28.03.2024

Austrian Ex-Minister Who Danced With Putin Gets Rosneft Nomination

Austria’s former foreign minister who danced with President Vladimir Putin at her wedding has been nominated for a seat on oil giant Rosneft’s board of directors, a government decree said Wednesday.

In 2018, Karin Kneissl, then Austria’s foreign minister, made headlines when she invited Putin to her wedding and danced with him. The 56-year-old left the government the following year.

Kneissl has been nominated to the Rosneft board as an independent director, said a government decree released on Wednesday.

If Rosneft’s shareholders approve her nomination, she will join former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who has served as board chairman since 2017.

Rosneft, Russia’s biggest oil producer, is headed by Igor Sechin, one of Putin’s most loyal allies.

In recent years, Austria has emphasised close ties with Russia.

After a number of EU countries in 2018 expelled Russian diplomats over the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in the UK, Austria said it would not follow, stressing its neutrality.

Austrian Leader Calls for Russian Vaccine’s Swift Approval in EU

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz on Wednesday appealed to European regulatory authorities to approve Russia’s Sputnik V and other safe coronavirus vaccines as soon as possible.

With Sputnik V under review by the EU’s medicines regulator, reports suggested this week that EU officials are considering launching negotiations to buy doses from Russia. The vaccine’s developers announced Monday they had reached production deals in key EU states, including Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

“I call on the responsible agency in Europe to do everything possible to ensure that all possible vaccines are approved as soon as possible,” Kurz told Austrian broadcaster OE 24 when asked about the Russian vaccine.

His remarks came a week after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) management board chairwoman’s comparison between Sputnik V and “Russian roulette” sparked outrage in Moscow.

The EMA said it began a “rolling review” of Sputnik V earlier in March to analyze existing data on its safety and effectiveness before deciding whether Russia could apply for EU authorization. A peer-reviewed study published last month assessed Sputnik V’s effectiveness at 91.6%.

EU approval of Sputnik V would mark a major turnaround for the bloc, which has publicly dismissed Russia’s global vaccine campaign as propaganda while facing criticism for its own slow rollout. EU members Hungary and Slovakia have already purchased Sputnik V doses in a break with Brussels.

European Commissioner for the internal market Thierry Breton on Wednesday called Sputnik V “a good vaccine.”

“I think Russians are pretty good scientists, and I wouldn’t have any reason to doubt it,” Breton was quoted as saying at a briefing in Brussels.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *