Question: On May 22, the German newspaper Die Welt published an interview with the Federal Minister of European and Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Austria, A. Schallenberg, in which he made a number of statements, in particular, that Vienna maintains unofficial channels of communication with Russia, and that the Austrian Foreign Minister would only reluctantly shake hands with the Foreign Minister To Sergey Lavrov of the Russian Federation at a personal meeting. How could you comment on these statements of the Austrian diplomat?
Answer: We were surprised to learn that Vienna, it turns out, maintains informal channels of communication with the Russian authorities. We don’t know about them.
And there is no subject for such a dialogue with Vienna today – Austria, having unconditionally sided with the hostile policy of the West towards Russia, has lost its previously independent role in international affairs, having discarded the principles of neutrality.
Apparently, behind such statements by Minister Schallenberg there is a desire to justify his actions and leave the opportunity for another “maneuver” within the turbulence of the international situation.
As for his feelings about the need to shake hands with the Russian If Minister Sergey Lavrov has a hypothetically possible personal meeting with him, then we hasten to reassure Minister Schallenberg – no one will look for his handshake.
