Austria is frequently criticized in Ukraine for trying to undermine the European Union's economic sanctions against Russia. Austria's 28-year-old Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz and the country's Chancellor Werner Faymann have both been quoted saying that sanctions don't solve problems.
Gustav Gressen, a European Council on Foreign Relations visiting fellow, says there are pro-Russian politicians in almost all major Austrian political parties. The strongest pro-Russian views are the Social Democratic Party and the Freedom Party. Some of these moods are attributed to anti-American sentiment that is growing in Austria, and Russia is the natural beneficiary, says Gressen.
Christoph Prantner, opinion pages editor of Austrian derStandard, says economic interests are involved as well. He said the Freedom Party would even visit Ramzan Kadyrov, the pro-Kremlin Chechen leader, to do business.
Ukraine, therefore, becomes a victim of Austria’s stronger relations with Russia — or at least far off center stage.
Austria gets 70 percent of its natural gas from Russia. State-owned gas company OMV has long-term agreement with Russia’s state-owned Gazprom.
“OMV was always stupid enough to invite Gazprom to invest into the connecting pipelines and the infrastructure,” says Gressen.
Russia is not so important in bilateral trade to Austria, ranking only as the 10th biggest trade partner in volume. But that’s still higher than Ukraine.
Austria imported 3.1 billion euros worth of goods from Russia, compared to only 700 million euros from Ukraine, according to the National Bank of Austria. Austria exported 3.5 billion euros worth of goods to Russia in 2013 while only 680 million euros worth to Ukraine.
There is a strong historical relationship between Ukraine and Austria.
Part of western Ukraine was integrated into the Austro-Hungarian empire between 1772 and 1918, and the heritage of that union is still felt in the coffee-drinking culture of Lviv and architecture of Chernivtsi, among other places.
Although Austria strives to distance itself from Russia’s ongoing war against eastern Ukraine, it has extended a helping hand to some of Ukraine’s victims.
Hans-Peter Glanzer, who works for the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, says that besides financial assistance, Austria has provided pharmaceuticals, heating devices and treatment for Ukrainian war victims. It also paid for treatment of five civilians in its hospitals, and a new agreement has been reached to help children from the war zone, according to Oleksandr Shcherba, Ukraine’s ambassador in Vienna.
Austria has strong economic interests in Ukrainian banks as well and therefore the sanctions and an escalating war present a “lose-lose situation,” says derStandard’s Prantner.
Firm Austrian and Russian business ties can be seen in Russia’s heavy investment in Strabag and Volksbanken in Austria. At the same time, Russia’s massive Lukoil, Sberbank and VTB companies have their foreign offices in Vienna. Austria also has an Austro-Russian Friendship Society, the president of which is Raiffeisen Bank’s former general director Ludwig Scharinger.
Lucy Fitzgeorge-Parker, the emerging Europe editor for Euromoney magazine, says that Russia will soon lose its position as the engine of regional growth. This might influence Austria’s relationship with Ukraine as Russia weakens.
Kyiv Post staff writer Ilya Timtchenko can be reached at [email protected].
