Former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneisl came into the international media spotlight after she invited Vladimir Putin to her wedding in 2018 and danced a waltz with him. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, she again attracted attention because she moved to Russia to escape the so-called persecution of the West, which accuses her of being a Russian spy. BBC journalist Steve Rosenberg went to St. Petersburg and spoke with the former head of diplomacy of Vienna, from whom he wanted to know how she sees things, News.ro notes.

The BBC journalist’s story begins on a funny note: “It’s all quite surreal. I am in a 19th century St. Petersburg mansion. Winston Churchill is on the floor next to my chair. He is fast asleep…and snoring.”

“Maybe if you wake him up every now and then, that’s fine.” This advice came from former Austrian foreign minister Karin Kneisl, who is sitting in front of me. Winston Churchill is her boxer dog. They moved to Russia a few months ago, with Mrs. Kneisl’s cat and pony.”

The former foreign minister of Austria has a joke about his dog:

“I once had a little diplomatic incident with his snoring,” she recalls. to wake him up so as not to annoy Berlin. Otherwise, they might think that Vienna falls asleep when Berlin calls,” explained the former head of diplomacy.

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Karin Kneissl heads a key institute in Russia

Karin Kneisl worked a lot: as a teacher, freelance journalist, energy analyst. But he was also a controversial figure.

No more than in 2018, when Russian President Vladimir Putin was at her wedding. For most of the 1990s, she worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Austria.

In 2017, the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (of which she was not a member) nominated her for the post of foreign minister in the new coalition government. The party cultivated close ties with the Kremlin and signed a cooperation agreement with the ruling United Russia party.

In 2019, the government collapsed and Karin Kneisl left office. She claims that “political pressure” hindered her attempts to resume a career in academia and business, as many considered her too close to Russia.

And there were many things her critics could point to, the BBC notes. In 2020, Karin Kneissl began publishing articles for Russia Today, a state-controlled media outlet in Russia.

She became a visiting professor at the State Institute of International Relations in Moscow. In 2021, the Russian oil giant Rosneft appointed her to the board of directors (from which she resigned in May 2022).

Karin Kneissl, complaining of a “witch hunt” and the fact that she could not find a job at home, moved to France, then to Lebanon, and a few months ago she was on the road again: this time he went to Russia, to manage a brain center at St. Petersburg University.

It is located in an elegant mansion, where a BBC journalist was invited to take an interview. The organization’s website states that the center’s mission is to “find solutions to global development challenges and tasks of Russian policy.”

Karin Kneisl manages more than just this center. She also came up with the right name. “I came up with the name GORKKI, which is an acronym for Geo-Political Observatory for Key Russian Issues,” she explained.

“So far I have not seen any repression around me”

The BBC reporter also asks a key question: “Do you realize that it is highly controversial for a former Austrian foreign minister to move to Russia at a time when that country has launched an all-out and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine?” Is there not a threat that by your presence here you are legitimizing the invasion, the war and the internal repression that is taking place here?”

Karin Kneissl’s answer is unequivocal: “Well, so far I haven’t seen any repression around me,” she said.

“I can work here with the kind of academic freedom that I lacked when I was still teaching at various universities in the European Union,” added the former Austrian official.

Steve Rosenberg reminds Karin Kneisl that just a few days ago in St. Petersburg itself, a young woman Sasha Skotsilenko was imprisoned for seven years for replacing price tags in a supermarket with anti-war slogans, this is a recent example. the wave of repression that engulfed Russia.

“So what do I have to do with it?” – reacted the former Austrian minister. “I just explained at length the situation I went through. Let’s look at things differently: why was Karin Kneisl banned from working? Where is my crime? “I am very grateful that I have the opportunity to work (in Russia),” she said.

Kneisl would dance with Putin again

In 2018, Karin Kneisl made headlines around the world.

In March of the same year, a neurotoxic chemical was used on the streets of Great Britain. Former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned with “Novachka”.

They survived the Salisbury attack. But a civilian, Dawn Sturges, was also infected and later died.

The European Union agreed with the British government’s assessment that “it is very likely that the Russian Federation is responsible.” Dozens of Russian diplomats have been expelled from European countries, while Moscow denies any connection.

Three months later, Karin Kneisl invited President Putin to a planned summer wedding. In August 2018, the head of the Kremlin arrived at the wedding with a bouquet of flowers, kissed the bride and brought the bride and groom a bunch of gifts, including a samovar, a painting and a pair of earrings.

The Russian president and the Austrian foreign minister danced a waltz. At the end of the dance, Karin Kneisl bowed.

“The dog has just fallen asleep and is snoring because he knows the subject”

Karin Kneissl was asked on BBC HARDtalk earlier this year if she would dance at President Putin’s wedding on BBC HARDtalk today, knowing the Kremlin leader had been indicted by the International Criminal Court as a war crimes suspect.

“Yes,” she replied. “What does one have to do with the other? I’m not going to go into all these allegations of war crimes because we have a lot of war criminals in high political circles,” she said. outside.

The BBC correspondent also touched on the topic of the 2018 wedding.

“It’s so boring,” she commented irritably. “This all happened almost six years ago. I was the foreign minister at the time and I was dancing with President Putin. But I was doing other things in my life before and after. Honestly, it’s so boring. It’s very boring. There are much more interesting topics we can talk about,” she insisted.

Asked if she regretted it, she repeated: “I’m bored. And the dog has just fallen asleep and is snoring because he knows the subject.”

Karin Kneissl believes that the sanctions imposed against Russia are not working

The discussion turns to other topics – Western pressure on Russia. And Karin Kneissl believes that European leaders are beginning to recognize the ineffectiveness of sanctions.

“What I think is causing the shift is the recognition by many that sanctions are not working,” she says. What all the EU officials have been saying for the last eighteen months — they are demanding regime change in Russia — I mean, How can you, as Russia, then negotiate with people who are demanding your collapse, your destruction?” she continued. .

On the back of the closet, Kneisl has, among other things, a photo of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and a photo of her with President Putin.

When asked what impression Vladimir Putin made on her, the Austrian answered without hesitation: “He is the most intelligent gentleman, with an emphasis on gentleman, and I have met several. In the sense of what Jane Austen wrote in Pride and Prejudice about the ideal gentleman, he meets that standard,” Kneisl says.

“We are witnessing a wave of internal repression and we saw how Russia invades Ukraine. It is difficult to attribute this to gentlemanly actions,” the BBC journalist emphasized.

“Well,” replies Karin Kneissle, “Tony Blair, David Cameron, they’ve all been involved in military action with their governments,” she noted.

Karin Kneissl and a new life in Russia

Karin Kneisl is building a new life in Russia. When asked if she would ever return to Austria, she says that there are many voices in her home country who want to strip her of her citizenship, as she currently works at a university in Russia.

“I am accused of corruption, treason, thirty years of service in the KGB, according to Wikipedia. All this dirt and slander destroys life. And I don’t want to return to Austria until many court cases restore my reputation,” says the ex-head of diplomacy.

She claims that she does not understand at all why she is accused of being a Russian spy. “It’s just a dirty fantasy,” concluded Karin Kneissl.