Ex-Austrian FM to teach at Russian university

Karin Kneissl is set to give regular guest-lectures at the Ryazan State University

Former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl will be giving lectures at the Ryazan State University (RSU), the interim rector of the educational facility, Dmitry Bokov, has announced.

Kneissl toured the RSU on Tuesday, Bokov said in a Telegram post, sharing a picture of the ex-foreign minister.

“Today our university was visited by Karin Kneissl, Austrian stateswoman, journalist and politician, former Minister of Foreign Affairs,” the interim rector wrote, stating the RSU managed to secure a deal to host Kneissl for lectures.

Kneissl herself shed more light on her new tenure later in the day, releasing a statement on the matter on social media. The lectures will revolve around various matters, with the first one set to be dedicated to the car-making industry, she said.

“Twice per semester, I will present a guest lecture of approximately 2 hours. The first one will be in mid-February on the automotive industry, a topic on which I published a book in 2020,” Kneissl wrote. “Actually most of my conclusions proved to be right: namely that the internal combustion engine will prevail and that the remaining European car factories risk to be turned into museums.”

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The lecture arrangement with the RSU is merely a side project for the ex-Austrian FM, with her priorities focused on the work of the Geopolitical Observatory for Russia’s Key Issues (GORKI) think tank, she stressed. Kneissel has been leading the think tank since mid-2023 when it was established as a division of St. Petersburg State University.

Kneissl, Austria’s top diplomat between 2017 and 2019, is well known for her close ties with Russia. In 2021 and 2022, the former minister was on the board of Russia’s state-owned oil giant Rosneft and resigned at the end of May 2022. Kneissl has also been a long-time contributor at RT, writing opinion pieces on Russia’s relations with the West and other issues.

The ex-minister was forced to leave her homeland in 2022 having received death threats. Kneissl ultimately moved to Russia, settling down at a small village in the Ryazan Region last year.