After the appointment of Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg as the country’s chancellor, instead of the resigned Sebastian Kurz, one should not expect serious changes in relations between Vienna and Moscow. Political scientist Timofey Borodachev told Izvestia about this.
“As for his (Sebastian Kurz – Ed.) Temporary successor, Alexander Schallenberg, one should not expect fundamentally new approaches to relations with Russia, including. The position will not change, just the rest will do the same, but not talk about it so openly, ”the expert said.
A similar point of view in an interview with Izvestia was expressed by the head of the department of social and political research at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Schweitzer.
“We have, perhaps, the most stable relations among all EU countries with Austria, and they, I think, will remain so under the new government,” he stressed.
Kurz announced his resignation from the post of Austrian Chancellor on October 9 in connection with an investigation by the anti-corruption prosecutor’s office. In order to avoid chaos and to maintain stability in the country, he decided to step aside and resign as head of government. At the same time, Kurz will retain the place of head of the conservative Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) and deputy of the National Council.
On October 6, searches were carried out in the offices of several of Kurz’s closest advisers. The list of suspects included adviser Stefan Steiner, media manager Gerald Fleischmann, Secretary General of the Ministry of Finance Thomas Schmidt, several press secretaries and others.
According to investigators, they used public funds to buy fake poll results in favor of the ruling ÖVP.
The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, commenting on this event, recalled that Kurz’s resignation is an internal matter of the country, with which the state must deal on its own.
Schallenberg will be sworn in as Chancellor of the Republic on October 11. Austrian Ambassador to France Michael Linhart will become the country’s new foreign minister.