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Austria walks fine line over granting visas to Russian MPs

In their first trip to the EU since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, Russian MPs are due at an international meeting in Austria on Thursday despite sanctions and a planned boycott by Kyiv.

Published: 22 February 2023 16:27 CET
Austria walks fine line over granting visas to Russian MPs
In this file photo taken on February 21, 2022 a police officer is reflected in the logo of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) at the OSCE headquarters in the Hofburg Palace in Vienna. (Photo by ALEX HALADA / AFP)

EU member Austria said it would not bar the Russian delegation from a meeting in Vienna by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, citing its legal obligation as host to the OSCE seat.

But Ukraine and European Union member Lithuania have said they would boycott the meeting over the  participation of the Russian delegation headed by Pyotr Tolstoy, deputy chairman of the Russian parliament’s lower house, who is under international sanctions.

“They (Russians) are not interested in discussion, dialogue. They are coming only for propaganda,” Ukraine delegation head Mykyta Poturaiev told reporters in Vienna on Wednesday.

READ ALSO: Austria under pressure to bar Russia from OSCE meeting

“It is unacceptable to have in common meetings people who are responsible, who voted for this war,” he added.

Ukraine was joined by 19 other countries to protest the Russian parliamentarians’ attendance in a letter sent to the Austrian government at the beginning of February.

‘Unfortunate date’

It is the first time Tolstoy and another sanctioned parliamentarian will travel officially to an EU country since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, exactly one year ago.

The UK and Poland refused visas to Russians attending OSCE meetings they hosted last year but Austria has said it is “obliged under international law to grant entry to the delegates” as host to the OSCE headquarters.

“The date is very unfortunate,” Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg conceded in an interview with broadcaster ORF ahead of the invasion anniversary.

“But at the same time, we must not disregard the fact that we need platforms. The OSCE has never been an organisation of like-minded people,” he added.

The OSCE was founded in 1957 to foster relations between the Western and Eastern blocs and its current 57 members include NATO countries and allies of Moscow.

Austria is also a member.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: Why isn’t Austria in NATO?

As a militarily neutral country that is not a member of NATO, it has nonetheless firmly condemned the invasion.

And even though it has not provided arms to Kyiv, it has sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine and hosts tens of thousands of refugees.

Chancellor Karl Nehammer is one of the few Western leaders who has met Russian President Vladimir Putin since the invasion, saying he wanted to push for an end to the conflict.

But ties with Moscow further soured earlier this month when Austria expelled four Russian diplomats, including two accredited with the United Nations in Vienna, saying they acted “in a manner incompatible with their diplomatic status”.

READ ALSO: Austria expels four Russian diplomats

Moscow reciprocated by expelling four Austrian diplomats, saying Vienna’s action “causes serious damage to bilateral relations, which are already in crisis”.

Gerhard Mangott, professor of international relations at the University of Innsbruck, said the Austrian government has reversed course in the last year.

“In fact Austria very clearly broke with Moscow after the start of the war,” Mangott said. “Before, there was a very friendly policy.”

Dancing with Putin

Austria’s links to Russia have repeatedly made headlines in the past, such as when a former foreign minister invited Putin to her wedding and danced with him in 2018.

Since the beginning of the war, Austrian companies have also come under scrutiny over their links to Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has denounced the continued activities of the Raiffeisen bank in Russia.

READ ALSO: UPDATED: How reliant is Austria on Russia for energy?

Austrian oil and gas giant OMV has said it will not invest further in Russia, adding it “will no longer be a core region for us”.

Austrian and Russian gas ties date back decades: In 1968, the Soviet Union signed a gas contract with Austria, making it the first western country to get gas from there.

Austrian gas industry experts insist Russian gas will continue to be crucial for the country, which before the war imported some 80 percent of its gas from Moscow.

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POLITICS

‘Laughing stock of Europe’: What’s the new crisis to hit Austria’s coalition government?

Austria's environment minister went against the government's will and voted in favour of controversial EU legislation. Chancellor Nehammer now accuses the minister of 'abuse of office'.

Published: 17 June 2024 13:50 CEST
'Laughing stock of Europe': What's the new crisis to hit Austria's coalition government?

It’s the latest crisis between centre-right ÖVP and its junior Green coalition partners. This one will make its way up to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), according to statements given by Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) on Monday (17).

This is due to the fact that Austria’s Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler broke with coalition partners to help pass a controversial EU-level law. “I know I will face opposition in Austria on this, but I am convinced that this is the time to adopt this law,” Gewessler told reporters.

The Federal Chancellery promptly responded to Gewessler’s unilateral action: “Austria will bring an action for annulment before the ECJ,” it said. Her vote was “not in line with the domestic will and therefore could not be cast in accordance with the constitution”, the Chancellor’s office said.

READ ALSO: Europe warned it must do more to deal with climate crisis

Gewessler will be charged with suspected abuse of office, ÖVP Secretary General Christian Stocker announced in a press release.

“There is a suspicion that Leonore Gewessler is acting unlawfully and knowingly against the clear guidelines of the Constitutional Service and against the constitution with her approval of the ordinance – this constitutes abuse of office,” Stocker said.

What was voted?

At the core of the discussion is a controversial EU law known as the “EU nature restoration law”. The legislation mandates the restoration of at least 20 percent of the EU’s land and sea areas by 2030 to restore all ecosystems in need by 2050. This landmark bill aims to address the decline of Europe’s natural habitats, a significant portion of which are currently assessed as being in poor condition.

The legislation includes specific targets for various ecosystems, including peatlands, forests, grasslands, wetlands, rivers, lakes, and coral beds. Member states are required to improve at least 30 percent of these habitats by 2030, with this target increasing to 60 percent by 2040 and 90 percent by 2050.

The conservative ÖVP party has been against the regulations, consistently reasserting Austria’s abstention vote for two years now since the EU Commission presented the package that included the “nature restoration law.” 

But now, Gewessler’s rogue vote was crucial for the legislation to pass. Austria’s vote, which was a mystery until the very end, was decisive.

Although a clear majority of states voted in favour anyway, the necessary quorum of 65 percent of EU residents was only achieved because of Austria. In the end, 66.07 percent of the EU population voted in favour of the law.

Can Gewessler vote against the Chancellery decision?

That’s complicated, and the courts will decide. 

The Chancellor argues that Austria had already been notified to abstain, a position based on “a uniform opinion of the Regional Governments (Bundesländer), binding for the Federal Government under Austrian constitutional law, as well as the lacking consensus within the Austrian Federal Government ”. 

He means that Austrian states have also agreed not to back the proposal. However, in May, two states, Vienna and Carinthia, pulled out of this vote, as Der Standard reported. This makes it unclear, even among constitutional lawyers, whether there is still a “uniform opinion” and whether Gewessler would be bound by it, the report added.

READ ALSO: Why Vienna is a haven for wild animals – and where you can find them

Criticism from SPÖ and far-right

The SPÖ and FPÖ criticised Gewessler and Nehammer for their actions on Monday. The two had made Austria “the laughing stock of Europe”, said SPÖ climate spokesperson Julia Herr in a press statement. 

“What we are currently experiencing is basically the continuation of the last five years of black-green, only with tougher strikes because the election is approaching,” she said.

Meanwhile, far-right FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl demanded that Nehammer take responsibility for Gewessler’s “ideology-driven solo effort”. In his opinion, the law meant the “death” of domestic agriculture and the security of supply with domestic food.

The major environmental NGOs were very pleased with the approval of Gewessler’s EU nature restoration law: Greenpeace spoke of a “milestone” in a press release, the WWF saw “historic progress”, and Global 2000 saw an “important tool in the fight against the biodiversity crisis and the climate crisis”.

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