Tuesday

19th Mar 2024

Austrian ex-minister joins list of EU's pro-Kremlin lobbyists

  • Former foreign minister Karin Kneissl (r) made headlines by dancing with Putin at her wedding in 2018 (Photo: consilium.europa.eu)

Austria's ex-foreign minister Karin Kneissl has joined an ever-expanding list of senior Austrian and German politicians working as Kremlin lobbyists.

The 56-year old, who led Austria's diplomacy between 2017 and 2019, is to become a board member of Russian state oil firm Rosneft, in a move announced by Moscow on Tuesday (3 March).

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

The firm is run by one of Russian president Vladimir Putin's closest friends, Igor Sechin.

It is under EU and US sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine and lost an EU court appeal to get off the blacklist last year.

It was already controversial back in 2007 when it took over the assets of Russian oil firm Yukos, after Russia bankrupted Yukos and jailed its owner, Mikhail Khodorkovksy, for political reasons.

"I don't give interviews," Kneissl told the Austrian press agency, APA, on Tuesday.

But she had been less media-shy in recent times, in her role as a commentator for Russian propaganda outlet RT since leaving her ministerial post.

Kneissl, who hails from Austria's far-right and pro-Russian FPÖ party, made headlines in 2018 when Putin went to her wedding in Germany and danced with her in front of photographers.

Prior to that, she also bad-mouthed Arab migrants and top EU and German officials in what were normal FPÖ talking points.

It is unclear how much she will earn at Rosneft, but one of her new colleagues there, former German chancellor and Rosneft board member Gerhard Schröder, is paid some €600,000 a year, according to German media.

Schröder is a vocal advocate for Russian interests in Europe, such as the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany.

He still has clout in Germany's second largest political party, the SPD.

Meanwhile, Kneissl is a minor asset by comparison.

Her FPÖ party was kicked out of government in disgrace in 2019 after its leader, Heinz-Christian Strache, was taped in a media sting offering state contracts to Russian firms in return for party donations

But Kneissl's elevation to Rosneft was still trumpeted by Russian state media on Tuesday as the recruitment of a "respected European politician".

Her appointment was in fact made in late February, but unveiled publicly one day after the EU and US imposed new sanctions on Russia over its jailing of opposition figure Alexei Navalny.

Vienna is one of the most Kremlin-friendly capitals in Europe and was already mistrusted by Russia-wary EU countries in the east.

It is co-financing Nord Stream 2 and its top banks have extensive interests in Russia.

But if the Kneissl-move was also meant to cause deeper division in the EU, it changes little in terms of Austria's sleazy reputation for Russian 'revolving doors'.

Its former chancellor, Christian Kern, from the centre-left SPÖ party, joined the board of Russian railway firm RZD in 2019.

Another ex-chancellor, Wolfgang Schüssel, from the ruling, centre-right ÖVP party, became a board member of Russian oil firm Lukoil the same year.

And Austria's former finance minister, Jörg Schelling (ÖVP), joined Russian energy firm Gazprom in 2018.

Strache scandal: how big a hit will Austrian far-right take?

This is a political crisis unprecedented in Austria since the war: the resignation of the vice-chancellor, firing of the interior minister, the mass resignation of FPO ministers, a snap election, and a no-confidence vote in the Austrian parliament on Monday.

Borrell: 'Israel provoking famine', urges more aid access

70 percent of northern Gaza is facing famine, new data shows. There is one shower per 5,500 people, and 888 people per toilet. 'How can you live in these conditions?" asked Natalie Boucly of UNRWA at the European Humanitarian Forum.

Opinion

Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers

The UN could launch an independent international investigation into Navalny's killing, akin to investigation I conducted on Jamal Khashoggi's assassination, or on Navalny's Novichok poisoning, in my role as special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, writes the secretary-general of Amnesty International.

Latest News

  1. Borrell: 'Israel provoking famine', urges more aid access
  2. Europol: Israel-Gaza galvanising Jihadist recruitment in Europe
  3. EU to agree Israeli-settler blacklist, Borrell says
  4. EU ministers keen to use Russian profits for Ukraine ammo
  5. Call to change EIB defence spending rules hits scepticism
  6. Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers
  7. EU summit, Gaza, Ukraine, reforms in focus this WEEK
  8. The present and future dystopia of political micro-targeting ads

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us