"No misconduct"

Police received gifts from Russian embassy

The Russian embassy in Vienna

(Bild: APA/HANS PUNZ)

Viennese police officers should no longer accept gifts from Russia in future. This was announced by a spokesperson for the Vienna Provincial Police Directorate after several police officers were seen leaving the Russian embassy with gift bags. This was not a misdemeanor, but left an undesirable impression, according to the spokesperson.

Such gifts should therefore be refused in a friendly but firm manner. The officers were deployed on the occasion of the Russian presidential election on March 17 to ensure security around the voting in the embassy. After the last voter had left the embassy shortly after 10 p.m., at least six employees from the State Security and Extremism Office (LSE) and the police with a service dog followed.

Gift bags with the Russian coat of arms
At least three of them were carrying gift bags with the Russian coat of arms. They did not want to say on the spot whether it was customary to accept gifts at the Russian embassy. The operation took place after Austria had declared two Russian diplomats to be undesirable persons. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had stated on this occasion that bilateral relations between Vienna and Moscow could not get any worse.

Catered for and gifted
Ambassador Dmitry Lyubinsky praised the cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior in two of three video messages on election Sunday. Uniformed police officers and members of the LSE in civilian clothes were not only on duty outside the building, but were also frequently in and out of the embassy. One police officer justified this with the possibility of using the toilet in the building. Apparently, the police officers were also fed and given gifts by the Russians.

At the end of the operation, officers were given paper bags containing items of low value.

Landespolizeidirektion Wien

No misconduct under the Civil Service Act
The Vienna Provincial Police Directorate confirmed the receipt of gifts on request. "At the end of the operation, officers received paper bags containing items of low value," explained a spokesperson. Although this does not constitute misconduct under the Civil Service Act, it leaves an undesirable impression that does not do justice to the professional approach of the officers on the ground. The officers had been made aware of this and instructed to refuse.

Contents of the bags unknown
The Vienna police spokesperson justified the temporary entry into the building by stating that the officers had been on site on March 17 to protect the diplomatic facility, among other things, and that contact had been made with embassy staff. He did not answer the question about the specific contents of the bags. The spokesperson for the Russian embassy also declined to comment.