at her own wedding in 2018. now, she lives in exile, forced out of austria, she says, by death threats. what does her story say about vienna s close ties to moscow and the impact of austria s neutrality? karin kneissl, in northern lebanon, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much for your invitation, mr sackur. well, it s a pleasure to have you on the show. i think we have to start with this question about your location. you were a senior member of the austrian diplomatic political elite, until recently. now, you ve left your home country and you re in exile in lebanon. just explain to me why. well, when our government literally imploded in 2019, all i wanted was to continue my academic work and publishing, but i had to find out that there was not a single contract. furthermore, a lot of harassment, also the death threats. but the bigger problem, honestly, was this de facto prohibition to work, so i decided to quit and first, i went to france and now, i m in lebanon and i che
now, she lives in exile, forced out of austria, she says, by death threats. what does her story say about vienna s close ties to moscow and the impact of austria s neutrality? karin kneissl, in northern lebanon, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for your invitation, mr sackur. well, it s a pleasure to have you on the show. i think we have to start with this question about your location. you were a senior member of the austrian diplomatic political elite, until recently. now, you ve left your home country and you re in exile in lebanon. just explain to me why. well, when our government literally imploded in 2019, all i wanted was to continue my academic work and publishing, but i had to find out that there was not a single contract. furthermore, a lot of harassment, also the death threats. but the bigger problem, honestly, was this de facto prohibition to work, so i decided to quit and first, i went to france and now, i m in lebanon and i cherish the freedom of mind here in leban
karin kneissl, the former austrian foreign minister who famously danced with putin at her own wedding in 2018. now, she lives in exile, forced out of austria, she says, by death threats. what does her story say about vienna s close ties to moscow and the impact of austria s neutrality? karin kneissl, in northern lebanon, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much for your invitation, mr sackur. well, it s a pleasure to have you on the show. i think we have to start with this question about your location. you were a senior member of the austrian diplomatic political elite, until recently. now, you ve left your home country and you re in exile in lebanon. just explain to me why. well, when our government literally imploded in 2019, all i wanted was to continue my academic work and publishing, but i had to find out that there was not a single contract. furthermore, a lot of harassment, also the death threats. but the bigger problem, honestly, was this de facto prohibition to work,
academy and he was. right, so. crosstalk ..active kgb agents so this is a matter. you ve explained yes, you ve explained your connection with shirnov. thank you very much. you have other connections, of course, in russia not least the fact that, for more than a year, you served on the board of the state owned energy giant rosneft. why did it take you three months after putin s all out assault on ukraine in february of 2022, why did it take you three more months to decide to resign from that board? well, bp is still a shareholder in rosneft. it s there with $24 billion, ithink. it has never notified its exit. so, i m not a person who quits when there s a turbulence on the ship, and that s why i stayed, but bp is still there.
the same academy and he was. right, so. crosstalk. ..active kgb agents so this is a matter. you ve explained yes, you ve explained your connection with shirnov. thank you. you have other connections, of course, in russia not least the fact that, for more than a year, you served on the board of the state owned energy giant rosneft. why did it take you three months after putin s all out assault on ukraine in february of 2022, why did it take you three more months to decide to resign from that board? well, bp is still a shareholder in rosneft. it s there with $24 billion, ithink. it has never notified its exit. so, i m nota person who quits when there s a turbulence on the ship, and that s why i stayed, but bp is still there. you didn t feel uncomfortable sitting on the board of rosneft as russian forces were invading