Fears – What if Kneissl reveals sensitive information to the Russians?

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to these ‘unproven fears’. “The Information Security Committee has not considered the question of what consequences this could have for the interests of the Republic, listed in Article 20, paragraph 3 of the Federal Constitutional Law (provisions on official secrecy, note) as secret information of the Federal Ministry for European Affairs and International Affairs, which became known to the then Minister of Foreign Affairs Karin Kneissl, would also be made available to foreign states,” the Federal Chancellery (BKA) responded at the end of September to the APA’s request on the Law on the Obligation to to provide information. The BKA referred to the legal framework for the committee, which in particular provides for a coordinating function.

When do you speak of a compromise?

If a person legally gains access to certain classified information, he or she must be presumed to be properly protecting the information. “There is only talk of a compromise if there are indications of disclosure or misconduct has become known,” the BKA said. Only after such a compromise does an investigative process take place, identifying the potential harm and attempting to minimize it. If there are further indications, an investigation will be conducted and, if necessary, criminal prosecution will be pursued.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs keeps records

It was also explained that in principle the federal ministries in whose sphere of influence the compromise is suspected or has occurred are responsible for clarifying compromises. The Department of Foreign Affairs (BMEIA) said on Thursday that records would be kept of access to classified information. At the same time, however, she refused to answer the explicit question whether she had spoken to her former minister in this regard. “There is no written mechanism for unsubstantiated fears and hypothetical harms related to the leak of classified information,” the ministry wrote.

No concrete suspicions

There are currently no known concrete suspicions against the former Austrian Foreign Minister that would be considered “compromising” and could give rise to a formal investigation. Unlike the case of a secret document from Austria, leaked in London by the banker Jan Marsalek, which investigators believe can be traced back to the Kneissl-era Secretary General of the BMEIA, discreet contacts in Russia with the secret services there are hardly known. to the Austrian authorities.

In any case, Kneissl is the highest official from the West whose move to Russia became known. In recent years, Russian media have only reported on the American historian Suzanne Massie, born in 1931, who advised then US President Ronald Reagan in the mid-1980s and who was granted Russian citizenship by decree of Vladimir Putin in 2021.

Kneissl’s role in Russia

However, the 58-year-old Austrian plays a more active role in Russia: she regularly appears in Russian state media and heads a newly established think tank called the “Geopolitical Observatory for Russia” at St. Petersburg State University (SPbGU), which is also known for its historical affinity with the secret services Key Issues” (“Geopolitical Observatory for Key Russian Issues”, ed.).

The abbreviation GORKI used for the institution cannot only be understood as an allusion to the writer Maxim Gorky (1868-1936) and therefore as a friendly gesture to the ex-politician from Austria, who is also known for her interest in Russian literature. For Russians, the acronym also reminds us of the wedding reception of the then Foreign Minister, who was also honored by Vladimir Putin in 2018 in Gamlitz in southern Styria: At weddings in Russia, the bride and groom are traditionally asked to ‘ to shout ‘gorko’. (“bitter”) to kiss each other.