Skip to main content

Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl's Curtsy To Vladimir Putin Draws Criticism

Vladimir Putin (by Kremlin.ru [CC BY 3.0 ] via Wikimedia Commons)

Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl's curtsy to Russian President Vladimir Putin has drawn criticism from Austrian politicians and international media.

On Saturday, August 18, Putin attended Kneissl's wedding in the state of Styria, in southeastern Austria. Among the guests were Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz of the conservative Austrian People’s Party, and vice chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache of the far-right Freedom party (FPƖ).

Karin Kneissl is a former journalist. On December 18, 2017, she was sworn in as Austria's Minister of Foreign and European Affairs and Integration. She is an independent, but she was recommended for the role by the Freedom Party.

At the wedding Vladimir Putin gave a short speech congratulating Kneissl and her husband, businessman Wolfgang Meilinger. Kneissl danced with Putin and at the end of the dance she gave the Russian leader a curtsy.

Footage of the Austrian politician bowing to Putin became the centerpiece of TV news coverage of the event in Russia. Journalists from the Russian state-run network Russia Today (RT) were present at the ceremony.




Kneissl's curtsy was criticized as a symbolic act of submission to Putin.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin tweeted that the Foreign Ministry of Austria being forced to reaffirm its foreign policy commitments in light of a "private" visit caused "a sad smile." Ukrainian lawmaker and chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs Hanna Hopko said that Austria can no longer be regarded as a neutral mediator in the Russo-Ukrainian conflict.   

Criticism also came from Jƶrg Leichtfried, spokesperson for the Austrian Socialist Party, and from the Green Party EU lawmaker Michel Reimon, who called on Kneissl to resign. Othmar Karas, EU lawmaker of the ruling Austrian People's Party, told the Tiroler Tageszeitung that he could not understand "the logistics and the intention to stage and exploit in this way a personal ceremony."  







Putin's visit drew backlash for its cost to taxpayers, too. A spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry stated that the "normal security measures for the visit of a foreign leader were implemented." 

Vice chancellor Strache defended Kneissl, saying that the curtsy was simply part of the traditional Austrian dance and had no political meaning. 

Putin is known for cultivating ties with far-right groups spreading Christian-conservative, white supremacist ideology across the West.

Freedom House classifies Russia as "non free" due to its authoritarian system of government, in which President Putin and loyalist factions control the media and elections. 

According to Amnesty International, most Russian media remain under effective state control and are used by the authorities to smear human rights defenders, political opponents and other dissenting voices. Political activists and dissidents face harassment, administrative and criminal proceedings and physical violence by pro-government activists and “unidentified” individuals, who are believed to be security officials. 

The Russian government has banned anonymizers and virtual private networks, and has approved a "Strategy for the Development of the Information Society for 2017-2030" which prioritizes "traditional Russian spiritual-ethical values." In November, a law was passed allowing authorities to recognize as “foreign agents” media outlets that were both registered abroad and foreign-funded. 

Reporters Without Borders ranks Russia 148th among 180 countries in terms of press freedom

In April 2017 investigative journalist and Novy Peterburg co-founder Nikolay Andrushchenko died weeks after he was severely beaten. Dmitriy Popkov, editor of the investigative online outlet Ton-M, was killed in May. 

In December, the Central Election Commission banned opposition leader Aleksey Navalny from running for President. He would have been the only serious challenger to Vladimir Putin in the 2018 presidential election.

The Russian government continues to crack down on religious minorities and LGBT communities. In Chechnya the gay community is subject to violent persecution. In June, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that a 2013 law that made it illegal to talk about homosexuality in public was discriminatory and violated freedom of expression.

In March 2014, Russia annexed the Ukrainian region of Crimea, the first direct act of territorial expansion in Europe since the Second World War.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Window Trick of Las Vegas Hotels

When I lived in Hong Kong I often passed by a residential apartment complex commonly known as the " monster building ".  " Interior of the Yick Cheong Building November 2016 " by  Nick-D  is licensed under  CC BY-SA 4.0 . _____

Living in Taiwan: Seven Reasons Why It's Good to Be Here

Chinese New Year can be a pretty boring time for a foreigner. All of my friends were celebrating with their families, and since I have no family here, nor have I a girlfriend whose family I could join, I had nothing special to do. Shops and cafes were closed - apart from big chains like McDonald's or Starbucks, which were overcrowded anyway. So I had a lot of time to think. On Saturday evening I went out to buy my dinner. While I was walking around, I heard the voices of the people inside their homes, the sounds of their New Year celebrations. Then I suddenly asked myself: "What on earth are you doing here? Why are you still in Taiwan?"  Before I came to Taiwan, some Taiwanese friends of mine had recommended me their country, highly prasing it and going so far as to say that Taiwan is a "paradise for foreigners" (bear in mind that when I say foreigners I mean 'Westerners').  "It's easy for foreigners to find a job," t

Is China's MINISO Copying Japan's MUJI, UNIQLO and Daiso?

Over the past few years Japanese retailers such as UNIQLO and MUJI have conquered foreign markets, opening shops in cities such as Paris, Berlin or New York and becoming household names in several countries. But the success of their business model seems to have inspired people with dubious intentions. As the website Daliulian recently showed, a new chain called MINISO, which claims to be a Japanese company selling ‘100% Japanese products’, seems to be nothing more than a knock-off of UNIQLO, MUJI and Daiso, copying their logos, names and even the layout of their stores. The company’s webpage proudly announces – in terrible English – that “ MINISO is a fast fashion designer brand of Japan. Headquartered in Tokyo Japan, Japanese young designer Miyake Jyunya is founder as well as the chief designer of MINISO, a pioneer in global 'Fashion & Casual Superior Products' field. ” According to the company’s homepage, MINISO advocates the philosophy of a simple,

Macau: Gambling, Corruption, Prostitution, and Fake Worlds

As I mentioned in my previous post , Macau has different faces and identities: there is the old Macau, full of colonial buildings and in which the pace of life seems to resemble a relaxed Mediterranean town rather than a bustling, hectic Chinese city, such as Hong Kong or Shanghai. On the other hand, there is the Macau of gambling, of gigantic hotel and casino resorts, and of prostitution. These two Macaus seem to be spatially separated from each other, with an intact colonial city centre and nice outskirts with small alleys on the one side, and bombastic, modern buildings on the other.  The Galaxy - one of the huge casino and hotel resorts The Importance of Gambling for Macau's Economy Dubbed the 'Monte Carlo of the East', Macau has often been portrayed as the gambling capital of China. Media reporting on Macau tend present pictures of the city's glistening, apparently luxurious skyline. But a visit in Macau suffices to realize that it is fa

Trip to Tainan

Tainan Train Station Last weekend I made a one day trip to the Southern Taiwanese city of Tainan (Chinese: č‡ŗ南, pinyin: TĆ”inĆ”n), the former capital and one of the most important centres of culture, history and architecture of the island. This blog post is also intended as a special thank to Grace, a Taiwanese friend who was so kind to show me around, and very patient, too. Since Tainan doesn't have an extensive public transport net, Grace picked me up at the train station with her motorcycle, a vehicle that, along with cars, is regarded by locals as indispensable for living comfortably in Tainan. To my great embarrassment, though, I had to admit that I cannot ride a motorcycle. That's why we had to take busses to move around. It was the first time she ever took a bus in Tainan. And now I know why: busses come more or less every half an hour, and service stops early in the evening. No wonder Tainanese snob public transport. Grace had no idea about the routes and about whe