Contents tagged with Austria

  • Austrian Chancellor speaks in support of ‘gradually lifting sanctions from Russia’

    The gradual lifting of sanctions against Russia should they make progress in the implementation of the Minsk Agreements is appropriate, as stated by Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz in an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

    "The EU should insist on progress in the Ukrainian conflict and in the implementation of the Minsk agreements. If there is progress, it is appropriate to lift the sanctions step by step, to create incentives for further progress, about which German President ( …

  • Austrian court postpones extradition of Ukrainian oligarch Firtash to United States

    Interfax-Ukraine reports that the Austrian Supreme Court has postponed the extradition of the Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash to the United States. The decision of the Austrian Court of Appeals was thus annulled, said Firtash’s lawyer, Lanny J. Davis, on Tuesday, December 26.

    "The Supreme Court ordered a stay of Mr. Firtash's extradition pending its review," the lawyer said.

    He also added that the case was suspended until the European Court of Justice delivers a preliminary decision on the …

  • Minister of Foreign Affairs of Austria: The new Austrian government will follow the EU's policy of sanctions against Russia

    The future head of the Austrian government, the current Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sebastian Kurtz, promised to adhere to the current policy regarding EU sanctions against Russia, as stated during a speech in Vienna on Saturday, December 16th, DW reports.

    At the same time, his partner in the coalition, chairman of the right-wing populist Freedom Party of Austria, Heinz-Christian Strache, said that he would personally prefer that sanctions against Russia be canceled, but if the majority in …

  • Ukrainian Ambassador to Austria condemns visit by Austrian politicians to the Crimea

    Ukrainian Ambassador to Austria Olexander Scherba stated that the Austrian politicians who visited the ‘Friends of Crimea’ Forum, which was organized by Russian authorities, violated the neutrality of Austria and the decisions of the European Union, reported Krym.Realii.

    "While Renat Paralamov spoke about the untold suffering that he had to go through, Linz Deputy Mayor Detlef Wimmer and newly-elected Member of Parliament Hans-Jörg Jenewein laid out their belongings in the luxury rooms of the …

  • Russia accuses Austria of blockade because of refusal to grant visas to journalists from Crimea

    Austria has refused to issue visas to journalists from the annexed Crimea, for which Russia accused it of an information blockade.

    Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, expressed her outrage at Austria’s actions, Tass news agency reports.

    “The situation of not granting visas to Crimeans can be called a blockade,” she said.

    “Today, unfortunately, we witnessed another unpleasant incident, when journalists from Crimea were not admitted to an event connected with the …

  • Germany and Austria call on US to revise recent Russian sanctions bill

    German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel and Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern called for a correction of the bill approved by US senators to tighten anti-Russian sanctions in the energy sector.

    They believe that these measures threaten the European companies participating in the development of Europe’s energy supply.

    “Political sanctions should not be linked up to economic interest. To threaten companies in Germany, Austria and other European firms with fines in the US if they take part in or …

  • Polish authorities arrested an Austrian suspected of committing war crimes in eastern Ukraine

    Polish authorities reported on April 30th that they have arrested an Austrian suspected of committing war crimes in eastern Ukraine, as reported by Radio Liberty.

    According to the Polish Border Guard, a 25-year-old man was detained at the Dorohusk Polish border checkpoint three days ago as he tried to cross the border into Ukraine. Austria is now requiring him to be extradited.

    The detainee, the Polish border guards indicate, is suspected of "killing the wounded and prisoners," which is a war …

  • Latvia will purchase used mortars from Austria

    On April 30, TASS wrote that Latvia would purchase second-hand, 120mm mortars from Austria. This was reported by the local news agency LETA with reference to the Minister of Defense of the Republic Raimonds Bergmanis.

    "The number of mortars to be purchased was not specified by the Ministry of Defense, however it was noted that their delivery is provided for by a bilateral agreement between the Latvian Defense Ministry and the Austrian Ministry of Defense and Sports for the supply of self- …

  • As head of the OSCE, Austria will seek to ease the sanctions against Russia

    Austria intends to take advantage of the chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in order to ease the European Union’s sanctions against Russia. "We must restore trust in Europe, and transform the sanctions from a system of punishment to a system of incentives," the Foreign Minister of Austria, Sebastian Kurz, said in an interview with Der Spiegel, excerpts of which were published on the website of the edition on Friday, December 30th.

    Since the beginning …

  • So-called LPR plans to open representative office in Austria

    Leaders from the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) announced their intention to open a “diplomatic office” in Austria.

    This information was distributed by websites associated with the LPR.

    According to the LPR, “the office” will be engaged in “outreach activities” and coordinate the delivery of humanitarian aid to the occupied Ukrainian territory.

    The organization will be headed, according to them, by the Austrian social activist Alfred Almeder.

    The Austrian edition of Die Presse …