The former head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who left Austria, does not plan to change her citizenship

The former head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Austria, Karin Kneisl, who recently headed the center at St. Petersburg State University, does not plan to obtain Russian citizenship.

“I want to emphasize that I don’t have any second citizenship, except Austrian, and I didn’t ask for Russian,” Kneisl was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti on Thursday. With reference to the ex-minister, the Russian state agency writes that the director of the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna, where Kneisl taught for 20 years, offered to give up her Austrian citizenship. “They said that I was harmful to Austria, because I teach at St. Petersburg State University,” the Kneisl agency quotes.

Kneisl left Austria in 2022, as she explains, because of threats. Since then, it has been reported that she moved to Lebanon because she “knows this country well and speaks Arabic.” In June 2023, it became known that Kneisl headed the GORKI (Geopolitical Observatory for Russia Key Issues) center created at St. Petersburg State University. The center will monitor and analyze geopolitical issues that have an impact on the development of Russia. The presentation of the center took place at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

In the first half of August, the publication “Side View” wrote how Karin Kneisl was spotted at a local holiday in the village of Petrushovo near Ryazan. With reference to the 58-year-old Kneisl, it was noted that she rented a house in this village until the end of the summer. “We’ll see. I don’t know anything about my future, nothing,” said the ex-minister, noting that at her age it’s “not easy” to start over.

• In 2017, Karin Kneisl was nominated for the post of head of the Austrian Foreign Ministry by the far-right Austrian Freedom Party, which advocated Euroscepticism and improved relations with Russia. In 2018, the President of Russia Vladimir Putin was invited by the minister to her wedding. Footage of him dancing with his bride circulated in the media. Kneisl headed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs until 2019.
• In 2021, the former official joined the board of directors of the Russian state company Rosneft. She left him in May 2022. Not long before that, “Rosneft” fell under the sanctions of the European Union due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In addition, the minister wrote columns for the Russian state TV channel RT (it also fell under EU sanctions).