The escalation of Russian troops in Ukraine leaves the international community with no choice: to stop Vladimir Putin.
Austria's Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg also finds clear words: »We are talking about war crimes here.
We're talking about massive violations of international humanitarian law that are unbearable.« War crimes that the Kremlin is trying to cover up with all the power of its propaganda machine.
Also in Austrian media.
New sanctions are imposed, and EU countries are expelling more than a hundred Russian diplomats from their countries.
But Austria initially hesitated.
Waited – until the government finally decided to expel a handful of Russian representatives.
Economic interests and dependence on gas imports make the termination of Austrian-Russian relations a balancing act for the government in Vienna.
This is based on the realization that the previous, very close political ties with Putin were a fatal mistake: top figures from all major parties courted Russia's strong man.
He returned the favor with lucrative jobs for former politicians.
In 2018, Putin even danced at the wedding of a foreign minister who fell on her knees in front of him.
Kneeling before Putin
In this episode of Inside Austria, we look at how Austria's politics played into Vladimir Putin's hands for years.
And how the Austrian government ignored all warning signs in order not to endanger economic relations.
It is the third part of our mini-series »The Austria-Russia Affair«.
Guests are Gerhard Mangott, Professor of International Relations at the University of Innsbruck with a focus on the post-Soviet space, and Thomas Mayer, Brussels correspondent of the »Standard«.
In the weekly podcast “Inside Austria”, SPIEGEL and “Standard” look together at the big and small scandals in Austria.
Together with journalists from both editorial offices, we reconstruct cases and events that move the country.
We look into political abysses, follow the investigations into the cause of Sebastian Kurz and his ÖVP.
And inform about an important Austrian topic of the week.
Send us your feedback to: insideaustria@spiegel.de
