Sawt Falasteen - Austrian ex-minister exiled in Russia denies she is 'Kremlin agent'

A pariah in her home country after dancing with Russian President Vladimir Putin at her wedding, Kneissl claims she had no choice but to flee Austria and shelter in Russia.

Now she denies any involvement in the espionage scandal, which appears to reveal a nest of Russian spies in influential positions in Austria, particularly among the country's powerful far right.

"I've been insulted and really reduced to an agent of the Kremlin," the 59-year-old former career diplomat told AFP in an interview via videolink from Saint Petersburg.

"But I haven't set foot in the Kremlin since 2018. They have other things to worry about," Kneissl insisted.

She made headlines in August 2018 when photos of her dancing with Putin were widely circulated, raising questions about Austria's neutrality while the country presided over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Kneissl had been nominated as foreign minister a year earlier by Austria's far-right Freedom Party (FPOe), which had signed a "cooperation pact" with Putin's United Russia party in 2016.

Kneissl left the government in 2019 and has since distanced herself from the FPOe, of which she was never a member. She told AFP they "tried to get rid" of her because she was "too independent".

But it is her Russian links -- she has lived there since September 2023 -- that saw her forced into denying involvement in Austria's biggest espionage scandal in decades, which recently came to light when a former Austrian intelligence officer was arrested on suspicion of spying for Russia.

The revelations following the arrest of Egisto Ott in March have refreshed accusations levelled against the FPOe that moles close to the party are still believed to be working as Russian agents.

"I've never met Ott, I don't know anything about it and I'm at the disposal of the courts," Kneissl told AFP.

- 'Very tiresome odyssey' -

Kneissl -- who speaks eight languages -- claims she had to leave Austria in September 2020 after she was unable to find work following her "dance with the tsar".

Videos that showed Kneissl bending her knees in a deep curtsy in front of Putin at her wedding caused outrage and led to insults and attacks against her, she told AFP.

"There was a real media campaign against me. In Austria, I've unfortunately been attacked in the street and called 'Putin's whore'," she said.

A regular contributor to Russia's state-funded news organisation RT since 2020, Kneissl initially left Austria for France.

But she claims she was pressured into leaving France, where authorities appeared not to appreciate her contributions to the pro-Kremlin outlet that was later banned from broadcasting in the European Union.

Unable to open a bank account or find permanent accommodation, Kneissl said she "survived on the street, on a mattress" before moving to Lebanon.

In September 2023, she was tasked with heading a new think tank attached to Saint Petersburg University, which enabled her to "finally settle" in Russia after a "very tiresome odyssey".

Kneissl had previously served on the board of directors of the Russian oil giant Rosneft before stepping down in May 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which she did not explicitly condemn in an interview with the BBC.

She claims to have received a total of "more than $350,000 net" for the former post.

- With ponies in tow -

In order to move to Russia from the Middle East, Kneissl said she contacted the Russian authorities "for the first time" for help to fly out her animals, including two ponies, via the Russian air base at Hmeimim in Syria.

At the Gorki think tank in Saint Petersburg, Kneissl spends her days "coming up with ideas" such as how to "ensure Russian exports" without depending on Western shipping giants.

In the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, she observed how the geopolitical order shifted, with Moscow forging new ties "with Iran, China and Zimbabwe" as relations with the West deteriorated.

Kneissl, now separated from the man she married in 2018, said she wants to settle down in a rural area on the outskirts of Moscow and teach across Russia.

In a book published in Russian, she looks back on her past few years overshadowed by controversy.

But despite all her setbacks, she said she has no regrets about dancing with Putin, adding "minister or not, I dance with whoever I want".

Y.AlMasri--SF-PST