Klaudia Tanner

Klaudia Tanner (née Wallner, born 2 May 1970) is an Austrian politician of the People's Party (ÖVP) who has been serving as the minister of defense in the governments of Chancellors Sebastian Kurz, Alexander Schallenberg, Karl Nehammer, and Christian Stocker since January 2020.^[1][2] From 2011 to 2020, she worked as the General Manager of Austria's political farmers' association.

Klaudia Tanner
Portrait, 2020
Minister of Defense
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 January 2020
Chancellor	Sebastian Kurz Alexander Schallenberg Karl Nehammer Christian Stocker
Preceded by	Thomas Starlinger
Member of the Landtag of Lower Austria
In office 22 March 2018 – 7 January 2020
Personal details
Born	(1970-05-02) 2 May 1970 (age 55) Scheibbs, Austria
Political party	People's Party
Spouse	Martin Tanner
Children	1
Education	University of Vienna

Early life and education

Tanner was born in the small town of Scheibbs in Lower Austria. Early in her career, she worked in the cabinet of Minister of the Interior Ernst Strasser from 2001 to 2003 and for IT company Kapsch BusinessCom, a subsidiary of Kapsch from 2003 to 2010.

Political career

Already in the negotiations on a coalition government under Chancellor Sebastian Kurz following the 2017 elections, Tanner was considered as potential cabinet minister.^[3]

After the 2019 elections, Tanner was appointed Minister of Defense by Kurz in January 2020, making her the first woman to hold the position.^[4][5]

Under Tanner's leadership, Austria mobilized its military reservists for the first time since World War Two, asking them to fight the COVID-19 pandemic by helping with food supplies, medical support and police operations.^[6] Her ministry also ordered 18 Leonardo AW169M helicopters in a deal with Italy in September 2020, replacing its fleet of 50-year-old Aérospatiale Alouette III helicopters.^[7]

Personal life

Tanner lives in Gresten. She is married and has a daughter.