Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

UKRAINE

Austrian government summons EU envoy over Russian gas ‘blood money’ comments

Vienna on Thursday summoned the European Commission's envoy to Austria after he reportedly slammed the country for continuing to buy Russian gas with "blood money".

Published: 8 September 2023 09:57 CEST
Gazprom said on Wednesday it would resume gas supplies to Italy.
Austria still buys more than half its gas from Russia. Photo by BARBARA GINDL / APA / AFP.

The EU Commission executive has also distanced itself from the comments, calling them “regrettable and inappropriate”.

Austrian and Russian gas ties date back decades, and Austrian gas industry experts insist Russian gas will continue to be crucial for the country despite the war in Ukraine. The Alpine republic continues to buy over half its gas from Russia, in contrast to Germany – which once got half its supply from Russia and has now diversified its supply completely away from the country to suppliers like Norway.

EC representative Martin Selmayr reportedly said at an event in Vienna on Wednesday that he was “surprised” that there were no protests in Austria to demand the country further reduce its Russian gas imports.

“Oh my God, 55 percent of Austrian gas continues to come from Russia,” Selmayr said, according to the Austrian news agency APA. “Blood money is sent to Russia every day with the gas bill,” the German diplomat added.

The EC representative office did not immediately return a request for comment.

Austria’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that it has summoned Selmayr.

The European Commission also asked Selmayr to “immediately report the incident to Brussels”, according to commission spokeswoman Dana Spinant. 

“The Commission distances itself from the regrettable and inappropriate statements made by the head of the representative office in Austria,” she said in a statement. The commission has been pushing its members to reduce their gas consumption and wean themselves off Russian gas.

READ ALSO: OMV chief: Austria must continue to cut Russian gas reliance

Before the invasion of Ukraine, Austria imported 80 percent of its gas from Russia.

According to government figures, this stood at 60 percent in June for the Alpine EU member of nine million people.

The OMV gas provider, of which the Austrian state owns 31.5 percent, is under contract to buy gas from Gazprom until 2040.

The government has said it wants to divest itself of Russian gas.

Austrian politicians have long sought close ties with Russia — with former foreign minister Karin Kniessl famously inviting Russian President Vladimir Putin to her wedding — until Moscow invaded its neighbour.

Austrian companies continue to do business in Russia.

READ ALSO: Austrian ex-minister to lead Russian think tank

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

UKRAINE

Two years of war: Ukrainian refugees face lasting exile in Austria

Iryna, Maryna, Katya -- three generations from one family -- fled their home in southern Ukraine for Austria just after the war started, hoping to return quickly.

Published: 12 February 2024 11:43 CET
Two years of war: Ukrainian refugees face lasting exile in Austria

But two years later, these hopes are fading.

Just a few days ago, a fresh attack blew off the roofs of many buildings intheir home city of Mykolaiv. “Ukraine’s future is not clear. I think that the war will not stop, even in one or two years,” said Maryna Troshchenko, 43, while showing photos of the damage sent by relatives still living in the port city.

Troshchenko, her mother and her daughter, who all now live in Vienna, are among six million Ukrainian refugees, marking the biggest exodus since World War II, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Germany and Poland host the largest populations, with about one million Ukrainian refugees in each country.

Incessant bombings and a lack of progress on the front make their return in the short term increasingly improbable.

‘Started from scratch’

After months of housing problems and rejected CVs, Troshchenko finally landed a job in a supermarket, enabling the trio to move into their own apartment this year.

“I started from scratch” at the bakery department before being promoted to head cashier, said the former purchasing director, who did not speak a word of German when she arrived. “We are happy to have been able to accomplish so much in two years,” the divorcee added.

Her daughter, Katya, 17, has managed to obtain her Ukrainian school graduation certificate while attending a Viennese high school, from where she is eyeing to graduate next year.

Mother Maryna Troshchenko (L) from southern Ukraine with her daughter Katya Troshchenko (R) and grandmother Iryna Simonova pose for photos in their apartment in Vienna, Austria on February 8, 2024. (Photo by Alex HALADA / AFP)

Katya’s grandmother, Iryna Simonova, 64, meanwhile, has been able to find a volleyball team to practice her favourite sport and has made friends. But tears stream from her eyes as soon as she thinks of her home country as she recalls leaving behind her mother, who at 87 refused to join them.

‘Build a future’

At refugee help organisation Diakonie in Austria, workers note that many Ukrainian refugees have decided to try to settle after being paralysed by the “dilemma of waiting” to return home.

“For a long time, it was very difficult for them to decide how to proceed further,” Sarah Brandstetter, deputy at Diakonie’s Ukrainian refugee advice centre, told AFP.

“Two years later, the situation has changed — people are now planning to stay in the country. They have their children here in schools. They want to build a future for themselves,” she added.

But especially mothers of young children who find themselves alone to take care of them continue to struggle.

The initial surge of solidarity is also running out of steam in some places.

In Austria — which hosts some 80,000 Ukrainian refugees — “the increase of energy costs and high inflation was a game changer”, according to Christoph Riedl, a migration and integration expert at Diakonie.

In neighbouring Germany, anti-migration discourse is also on the rise amid a spike in the number of asylum-seekers from outside of Europe, weighing heavily on reception capacities.

Demographic challenge

Until March 2025, under EU rules, Ukrainians are eligible for temporary protection, a status allowing them access to the labour market, housing, and social and medical assistance. But what is next, experts wonder. Riedl said the EU should agree now on a
lasting status.

“When a conflict lasts for two or three years, people change their minds. It’s a reality check. They integrate, they have a new life,” he told AFP.

Faced with a real demographic challenge, Ukrainian authorities fear the massive exodus — and in contrast to other nations want refugees to be able to return.

A photo taken in Vienna, Austria on February 8, 2024 shows a sign at the entrance to the Ukrainian refugee advice centre of the Diakonie help organisation. Workers note that many Ukrainian refugees have decided to try to settle after being paralysed by the “dilemma of waiting” to return home. (Photo by Alex HALADA / AFP)

“We find a somewhat specific situation in Ukraine — a country at war, which also wants to maintain the greatest possible connection with its population,” Philippe Leclerc, UNHCR Director for Europe, told AFP.

Katya Troshchenko too insists on the importance “for young Ukrainians to come back to rebuild Ukraine, to build a new, modern country, which will be in EU too”.

However — still traumatised by the nights in air raid shelters at the start of the war — she is “afraid” to return.   

“I don’t want to see how it’s absolutely ruined by Russians, and I don’t want to see my ruined childhood,” she said. And she has no illusions — she will probably have to stay in Vienna for her university studies.

SHOW COMMENTS