On Monday, the Kronen-Zeitung newspaper (https://www.krone.at/4026288) quoted Dominik Oberhofer, member of parliament and European spokesperson for the NEOS party, which is part of the current governing coalition and also provides the current pro-Ukrainian foreign minister Meinl-Reisinger, as saying that he is currently preparing a so-called “revocation application.” The reason, according to Oberhofer, is Kneissl’s critical statements about Austria. Another leading NEOS politician, Yannik Shetty, is quoted by Kronenzeitung as saying that Kneissl’s propaganda business model in particular will have legal consequences for her Austrian citizenship. “In the service of Putin, for example at the Russian Economic Institute or as a columnist on the RT channel, which is banned in Austria, Kneissl symbolically spreads only one message: Austria is the gateway to hell, Putin’s Russia is the Garden of Eden.”
According to the Kronen-Zeitung, the legal situation is “clear”: “If an Austrian citizen works for a foreign state and thereby damages Austria’s reputation, her citizenship will be revoked by the authorities.” Due to Karin Kneissl’s “apparent activity for various Putin troll factories,” unnamed experts believe that the basis for revoking her Austrian citizenship has been established, according to the publication.
