Peace in Europe is possible only with Russia / Article

In Europe, peace is possible only with Russia, not against it. This is the view expressed by Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who believes that despite the differences between the European Union and Russia, there are areas for joint cooperation between the two sides.

In St. Petersburg at the moment an international economic forum is taking place, whose participants will also be addressed by Kurz. Before that, he gave interview with Russian news agency “TASS” and expressed the view that cooperation with Russia was possible. He has identified the fight against climate change and non-proliferation efforts as one of the possible areas of cooperation.

“It is very clear to me: peace in Europe will only be with Russia, not against it,” said the Austrian head of government. He also called Russia one of its most important trading partners outside the European Union.

In recent years, Austria has focused on close ties with Russia. In 2018, several European Union countries decided to expel Russian diplomats in connection with the “Skrippa case”, but Austria refused to follow this example at that time, under the pretext of “neutrality”.

Russian oil company Rosneft, meanwhile, has confirmed that it is on the company’s board of directors included former Austrian Foreign Minister Karina Kneisla.

The 56-year-old Kneisla was Austrian Foreign Minister for about a year and a half, from late 2017 to mid-2019. During this time, in the summer of 2018, she had invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to her wedding and danced with her.

Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has been the Chairman of Rosneft’s Board of Directors since 2017. His salary is $ 600,000 a year, reports The Guardian.

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