Karin Kneissl says she will accept statelessness amid Austrian citizenship debate

Karin Kneissl, once Austria's foreign minister nominated by the FPÖ during the Kurz government, now resides about 210 km east of Moscow in the Ryazan region and serves as director of the Gorki Center at St. Petersburg State University. After the coalition collapsed, she moved to France, then Lebanon, and settled in Russia in autumn 2023. The liberal NEOS party introduced a proposal in January to strip her of Austrian citizenship because of her pro-Russian statements and activities, though the measure has not been enacted.

At the Russian Energy Week in St. Petersburg, Kneissl told Ria Novosti she would accept becoming stateless and could seek a UN "white passport" for stateless persons. She confirmed to a local Russian outlet that she faces serious legal problems with Austria but will not alter her identity, noting her age makes such a change impossible. Critics accuse her of serving Russian propaganda, while she maintains her academic role and former board seat at Rosneft, which she left in May 2022.