The place and role of the Russian Federation in Austrian “eastern policy”

Abstract

The article analyses the attitude of the Republic of Austria towards the Russian Federation in the context of the contemporary ‘eastern policy’ pursued by this central European state. It focuses on events following Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of war in eastern Ukraine in 2014. In recent years, Vienna has tried to play the role of an intermediary in talks between Moscow and Kiev. Despite the confrontational attitude of Russia in eastern Europe, the Austrian government undertook a number of activities to further deepen relations with Russia, considering mainly economic issues.
However, these actions have contributed to the weakening of the European Union’s common foreign and security policy. The article also draws attention to the positions of the main political parties towards Russia, primarily in the context of the elections to the National Council, which took place in October 2017. The author also indicates the controversial activities of members of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), who formed a government coalition at federal level with politicians from the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP), which was also important in the context of the relationship between Vienna and Moscow. He shows the most important differences and similarities between the Austrian and German ‘eastern policies’.