Austria giving 18 mn euros to train Afghan police

Afghan policemen perform a drill during a graduation ceremony at the Adraskan police training centre in Herat province lthis week. Austria will give 18 million euros ($23.6 million) for police training in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of foreign troops from the country, a top official announced. © AFP Aref Karimi

VIENNA – Austria will give 18 million euros ($23.6 million) for police training in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of foreign troops from the country, a top official said.

The money will be delivered in three equal payments per year from 2014 to 2016 through the United Nations Development Programme’s Law and Order Trust Fund for Afghanistan, secretary of state for foreign affairs Wolfgang Waldner said in a statement.

The announcement comes as NATO leaders prepare for a May 20-21 summit on Afghanistan in Chicago, where they will discuss winding down the alliance’s forces in the country and the transfer of their security efforts to the local police and military.

NATO has set a 2014 deadline for troop withdrawals, though France’s new President Francois Hollande reiterated his decision to pull French troops out by the end of this year when he met his US counterpart Barack Obama Friday in Washington.

Austria is not a NATO member but will have a high-level delegation at the Chicago summit including Chancellor Werner Faymann, Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger and Defence Minister Norbert Darabos.