Former Austrian foreign minister Karin Kneissl has moved to St Petersburg to work at an academic centre there which she heads, the Russian TASS state news agency reported.
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Kneissl heads the G.O.R.K.I centre - the Geopolitical Observatory for Russia's Key Issues at St. Petersburg University, TASS reported.
"I co-founded the G.O.R.K.I. centre and manage it," TASS quoted Kneissl as saying. "Since there is a lot of work there and it requires a lot of attention, I cannot do this in passing, I decided to move to St Petersburg for this work."
Last week Kneissl's ponies were flown to St Petersburg on a military aircraft from the Russian air base at Hmeimim in Syria, according to a report by Russian investigative website The Insider.
Kneissl served as Austria's foreign minister from 2017 to 2019, nominated for the position by the far-right Freedom Party. She has drawn criticism for her close links to the Russian president, who attended her wedding in 2018 in the Austrian Alps, and for holidaying in Russia as recently as August, amid the Kremlin's ongoing war in Ukraine.
Speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on Tuesday, Kneissl criticised Austria's behaviour toward Russia, comparing it to "schizophrenia".
"Austrian politics and public opinion do not get tired of condemning Russia," she said, adding that those who still have business ties to Russia are labelled as "earning bloody money," TASS reported.
with agencies
Australian Associated Press
