Kremlin not convicted – Schallenberg’s statements about Navalny cause criticism

“Economic relations with Russia should not be disrupted because of Navalny,” Tomaselli criticized on the X platform on Sunday morning, referring to internal Foreign Ministry discussion documents.

“Keep a cool head despite Navalny”
In September 2020 – just a month after the poison attack on Kremlin critic Navalny – a conversation took place between Schallenberg and then OMV CEO Rainer Seele. The foreign minister saw no reason to reconsider the pro-Kremlin position, the National Council member said. “Despite Navalny, we must keep a cool head. Mixing politics and economics is not good!” the documents say.

Elsewhere, there are fears that Russia could impose sanctions on Austrian companies: “We have to be careful,” Tomaselli quotes. The US’s insistence on ending its dependence on Russian natural gas was apparently not taken seriously in the conversation. Such sanctions would serve the economic and geopolitical interests of the United States more than Europe’s energy security.

“History must be told today”
This 2020 story needs to be told today, the Green leader said. “Schallenberg praised Navalny in an initial statement, but, like other international politicians, avoided explicitly blaming the Kremlin,” the MP stressed in an investigation into the circumstances of the death. But it is the duty of the State Department to “call out the Russian system for what it is: criminal,” Tomaselli emphasized.

98 percent of our gas comes from Russia
She called for an end to Russian gas imports. “Support payments in the form of our gas bills must end,” she wrote. Austria is far from independent in terms of natural gas supply. Tomaselli’s party colleague, Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler, recently pointed out that Russia’s import share had even risen to 98 percent by December 2023. She wants to have the interim termination of the supply agreement checked. OMV’s contracts with Gazprom for fixed offtake currently run until 2040.