In Austria, the liberal NEOS party is demanding that the Austrian citizenship of former Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl, who has been living in Russia since 2023, be revoked.
According to Austrian media reports, NEOS has prepared and intends to submit an official request to initiate the procedure for revoking her citizenship. The main argument is Kneissl’s activities, which NEOS considers to be ‘working for a foreign state’ (Russia) and damaging Austria’s reputation.
NEOS parliamentary group leader Yannick Shetty accused Kneissl of using her status as former foreign minister to ‘spread paid propaganda in the interests of Vladimir Putin.’ According to him, Kneissl consistently presents Austria as ‘the entrance hall to hell’ and Putin’s Russia as ‘the Garden of Eden.’ Examples include her public statements, including comparing Austrians to ‘hyenas,’ and regular appearances on Russian media outlets (including RT, which is banned in Austria).
According to the Austrian Citizenship Act (§ 33 Staatsbürgerschaftsgesetz), citizenship can be revoked if a citizen acts in the interests of a foreign state in a way that significantly harms the interests or reputation of Austria. NEOS representatives refer to this provision, arguing that Kneissl’s activities in Russia (heading the G.O.R.K.I. centre at St. Petersburg State University, writing a column for RT, etc.) provide sufficient grounds for revocation.
It should be recalled that in 2023, after Kneissl moved to Russia, similar calls were already being made — in particular, by the head of the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna, Emil Brix. At that time, the Austrian Foreign Ministry responded that international law (the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness) prohibits the deprivation of sole citizenship. However, in Kneisl’s case, formally speaking, it is not a question of ‘sole’ citizenship in the sense of the prohibition of statelessness, but of possible revocation for specific actions.