The Russian government is unlikely to be particularly interested in the presidential election, as political scientist Gerhard Mangott says Moscow is confident that Alexander Van der Bellen will be confirmed in office. According to Mangott, the Kremlin also has no preferred candidate for the Hofburg.
FPÖ candidate Walter Rosenkranz had “no chance of winning this election”. It is also not considered that the FPÖ will create a government participation again in the foreseeable future, so that relations with the PVV are not so important at the moment. The other candidates “do not have the potential to make it to a second round,” the expert added in the APA interview, citing current opinion polls.
Van der Bellen’s mistake
He told the incumbent that he was “partially a useful idiot” to the Kremlin boss in 2019. During Putin’s visit to Austria in June 2018, Van der Bellen said there was “no reason for a crisis of confidence between the European Union and Russia”. Given the already completed annexation of Crimea and the war in Donbass, this was an “outrageous comment”. “There were more than good reasons for a crisis of confidence. And the fact that he repeated that during his return visit to Sochi in May 2019, added the icing on the cake,” said the political scientist. After the outbreak of the war, Van der Bellen “turned his head. He had no other choice, he also talked about a mistake he made there.”
Italian choice more important for Moscow
The most important European elections for the Ukraine conflict in the near future are those in Italy, Mangott continued. Under a new right-wing government, Italy’s line on sanctions against Russia could be “radically different”. Italy, along with France and Germany, was already one of those EU states “wanting to have a moderating effect on Ukrainian leadership”. Under a right-wing government, “this Italian position will be significantly strengthened”.
Mangott found sharp words for those Western politicians who still stand behind the aggressor state. “I can’t imagine that these people with a certain level of intelligence really approve of Russian politics. No one who was a political leader could be so blinded, so confused,” he said, referring to former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder or the former Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl.
Financial interests are likely to determine their attitude. At Kneissl, “there are still rumors that she will get money from Russia,” says Mangott, who at the same time asked how she could finance her life differently. She needs Russia ‘if she wants to set foot on prosperity again’.
Source: Krone
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