Making Friends with Russia: Austria as a Solid Backer of Russia in the EU

Russia and Austria have traditionally had friendly, sometimes even cordial, relations, these days drawn from largely financial and business interests. Neither the current nor previous governments have shown great interest in political issues, human rights and the rule of law. When President Putin visited Vienna in 2018, Austria’s Federal President even went so far as to say that there was no loss of trust and confidence between the EU, Austria and Russia. Moreover, he did not see any reason why there should be. This is remarkable, given the breakdown of trust between most EU countries and Russia, not only because of its military escalation of the Ukraine crisis but also the deepening authoritarian character of the country’s political system.