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Liberal Pro-EU Party Says Visa should be Revoked from Ex-Australian FM
(MENAFN) A liberal pro-EU party in Austria has suggested revoking former Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl’s citizenship, accusing her of acting in Moscow’s interests after relocating to Russia in 2023 and frequently criticizing the European Union.
The New Austria and Liberal Forum (NEOS) claims Kneissl has damaged Austria’s reputation while serving Russian interests, citing her role leading a Russian think tank and her appearances on a Russian news outlet.
“In [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s service… at the Russian Economic Institute or as a columnist on RT, a channel banned in Austria, Kneissl is symbolically spreading only one message: Austria is the antechamber to hell, Putin’s Russia is the Garden of Eden. Anyone who believes that these appearances are voluntary and done out of pure altruism also believes in Father Frost,” NEOS parliamentary leader Yannick Shetty told local media.
Under Austrian law, citizenship can be revoked if a person “significantly damages the interests or reputation of the Republic” while working for a foreign state. However, legal experts and former Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg have indicated that stripping Kneissl of citizenship would be legally complicated. She also has no other nationality, making it impossible to render her stateless.
Lawyer Balazs Esztegar noted that the procedure is typically reserved for cases of espionage, which would be “difficult to prove” in Kneissl’s situation.
In Russia, Kneissl leads the think tank GORKI (Geopolitical Observatory for Russia’s Key Issues) and contributes to RT. She has criticized the EU’s dependence on US energy, describing efforts to replace Russian oil and gas as “ideological,” and has recently made remarks critical of Austria on several YouTube podcasts, drawing political backlash at home.
The New Austria and Liberal Forum (NEOS) claims Kneissl has damaged Austria’s reputation while serving Russian interests, citing her role leading a Russian think tank and her appearances on a Russian news outlet.
“In [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s service… at the Russian Economic Institute or as a columnist on RT, a channel banned in Austria, Kneissl is symbolically spreading only one message: Austria is the antechamber to hell, Putin’s Russia is the Garden of Eden. Anyone who believes that these appearances are voluntary and done out of pure altruism also believes in Father Frost,” NEOS parliamentary leader Yannick Shetty told local media.
Under Austrian law, citizenship can be revoked if a person “significantly damages the interests or reputation of the Republic” while working for a foreign state. However, legal experts and former Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg have indicated that stripping Kneissl of citizenship would be legally complicated. She also has no other nationality, making it impossible to render her stateless.
Lawyer Balazs Esztegar noted that the procedure is typically reserved for cases of espionage, which would be “difficult to prove” in Kneissl’s situation.
In Russia, Kneissl leads the think tank GORKI (Geopolitical Observatory for Russia’s Key Issues) and contributes to RT. She has criticized the EU’s dependence on US energy, describing efforts to replace Russian oil and gas as “ideological,” and has recently made remarks critical of Austria on several YouTube podcasts, drawing political backlash at home.
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