“Then so be it”

Revocation of citizenship? Kneissl agrees

The former minister just can’t seem to find any peace.(Bild: Karin Kneissl official)

Once again, former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl is making headlines in the Russian media. Among other things, she has now stated that she agrees to the revocation of her Austrian citizenship.

Two years ago, the former politician moved into a small wooden cottage in the Ryazan Oblast, where she enjoys the peace and quiet of the countryside together with her animals. “It is the center of my life,” Kneissl told the Russian state news agency “RIA Novosti,” praising the region. But despite all her love for the region, the 61-year-old admits in a video broadcast by “360.ru” that she cannot become a Russian citizen. She does not mention the exact reason for this.

In July, in an unusually candid interview with the local Russian news portal “YA62.ru,” Kneissl had spoken far less diplomatically about her new home. She said alcohol abuse was rampant in the village, even among young mothers. Furthermore, she says many people speak ill of her and treat her like an ATM. For Kneissl, it was clear that she wanted to retain her Austrian citizenship. “Do you really think I’m suddenly going to become Russian at this age? No. I’m tired and don’t want to have to change everything all over again.” 

Kneissl Wants to Involve the UN
In the meantime, however, she seems to have come to terms with her fate. “If they want to make me a stateless person, then so be it. I can turn to the UN; they have wonderful white passports for stateless people,” the former foreign minister now told the Russian state news agency “RIA Novosti.”

I can turn to the UN—they have wonderful white passports for stateless people.

Ex-Außenmimisterin Karin Kneissl

Bild: Zwefo

NEOS Initiated Proceedings to Revoke Citizenship
The starting point for the discussion was a corresponding initiative by NEOS. As the news portal “News.ru” explicitly mentions, this initiative had been made public by the “Kronen Zeitung.” “In the service of Putin—whether at the Russian Economic Institute or as a columnist for RT, a channel banned in Austria—Kneissl symbolically spreads only one message: that Austria is the gateway to hell, while Putin’s Russia is the Garden of Eden. “Anyone who believes that these appearances are voluntary and motivated purely by charity also believes in Father Frost,” party leader Yannick Shetty had stated in response.

Anyone who believes that these appearances are voluntary and motivated purely by charity also believes in Father Frost.

NEOS-Klubobmann Yannick Shetty

Bild: Zwefo

In any case, the legal situation seems clear in this instance: If an Austrian citizen works for a foreign state and thereby damages the reputation of the Alpine republic, her citizenship will be revoked by the authorities.

In the Service of Russian Propaganda
From 2017 until the Ibiza scandal in 2019, Kneissl was Austria’s foreign minister, nominated by the FPÖ. Critics see her as entirely in the service of Russian propaganda. Not only did she invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to her wedding in Styria in 2018—complete with a curtsy—but she also met with him in person on several occasions.

“In September 2020, Karin Kneissl was forced to leave her home country due to persistent death threats and a de facto ban on working in Austria,” according to her official website. She first moved to France, then to Lebanon, and finally to Russia. There, she now heads the think tank “Gorki Center.”