Norbert Darabos (born 31 May 1964) is an Austrian politician. Currently, he serves as the president of the Austrian Study Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution (ASPR). From 2007 to 2013, he served as Minister of National Defence under the chancellors Gusenbauer and Faymann. From 2015 to 2016, he was secretary general of the

Social Democratic Party of Austria The Social Democratic Party of Austria (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs , SPÖ), founded and known as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (german: link=no, Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Österreichs, SDAPÖ) unti ...

(SPÖ). He is married and has two children.

Personal life and political career

Darabos was born in Vienna. From 1982 to 1988 he studied history and political science at the University of Vienna, where he graduated in 1988. In 1987/88 he made his

Alternative civilian service Alternative civilian service, also called alternative services, civilian service, non-military service, and substitute service, is a form of national service performed in lieu of military conscription for various reasons, such as conscientious ...

. In the period 1988 till 1991 Darabos was chief executive of the federal branch of the Dr.-Karl-Renner-Institute in Burgenland, a social democratic think tank. Between 1991 and 1998 he was press speaker for the Governor of the Province of Burgenland,

Karl Stix Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austr ...

. Since 1998 he is Executive Secretary of the SPÖ Burgenland. On 19 May 1999 he became a member of the federal parliament. Between December 2000 till March 2003, Darabos was the head of the Social Democratic Group in the federal parliament of Burgenland. In March 2003, Darabos became secretary general of the Social Democratic Party of Austria. In 2004 he ran the election campaign of later

President of Austria The president of Austria (german: Bundespräsident der Republik Österreich) is the head of state of the Republic of Austria. Though theoretically entrusted with great power by the Constitution, in practice the president is largely a ceremonial ...

Heinz Fischer, and on 16 June 2004 he became a member of the Austrian parliament (SPÖ). After the

2006 Austrian legislative election Legislative elections were held in Austria on 1 October 2006 to elect the 23rd National Council, the lower house of Austria's bicameral parliament. The governing Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) suffered substantial losses and was unexpectedly ove ...

, in which the SPÖ gained the majority of the votes, Darabos became a member of the team that negotiated for a coalition with the

Austrian People's Party The Austrian People's Party (german: Österreichische Volkspartei , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since December 2021, the party has been led provisionally by Karl Nehammer. It is currentl ...

(ÖVP). In the following

Grand coalition A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political parties of opposing political ideologies unite in a coalition government. The term is most commonly used in countries where there are t ...

, which took office on 11 January 2007, Darabos became Minister of National Defence. Since 2 December 2008 his duties also comprised sports. In 2010 Vienna's mayor Michael Häupl (SPÖ) suggested it should be decided whether young Austrians should still have to serve in the army. Darabos promised "full support" for Häupl's idea of abolishing the conscription, that for the

2013 Austrian conscription referendum A non-binding referendum on ending conscription was held in Austria on 20 January 2013. The proposal was supported by the Social Democratic Party and the Green Party and opposed by the Austrian People's Party and the FPÖ. Though constitutionally ...

takes place. On 11 March 2013 Darabos resigned as minister in order to return as Secretary General of his party, responsible for running the upcoming parliament elections.

Awards

In 2010, Darabos received the Grand Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria in Gold with Sash (''Großes Goldenes Ehrenzeichen am Bande für die Verdienste um die Republik Österreich'').

Notes and references

External links

*
Norbert Darabos
at the Website of the Austrian Defense Ministry {{DEFAULTSORT:Darabos, Norbert 1964 births Living people Members of the National Council (Austria) Austrian Ministers of Defence Government ministers of Austria Recipients of the Grand Decoration with Sash for Services to the Republic of Austria 21st-century Austrian politicians