Shallenberg says that Russia will remain important to Europe: Dostoyevsky and Tchaikovsky will always be part of European culture

Alexander Schalenberg
Alexander Schalenberg / Photo: EPA-EFE / CHRISTIAN BRUNA

Russia will always remain important to Europe, Austria's foreign minister said, saying it would be a mistake to think otherwise.Reuters". Alexander Schallenberg also defended the country's second-biggest bank, Raiffeisen Bank International, saying it was unreasonable to single out the lender for doing business in Russia when so many other Western firms have done the same.

"To think that there will be no more Russia and that we can disassociate ourselves in all areas is a delusion," Schallenberg told Reuters, adding that while Austria would loosen ties, it "cannot happen overnight." .

"Dostoevsky and Tchaikovsky remain part of European culture, whether they like it or not. She will continue to be our greatest neighbor. It will remain the second largest nuclear power in the world," says the Austrian minister.

Austria, which models itself as a bridge between East and West, turning its capital Vienna into a magnet for Russian money, is also part of a wider Western alliance that has sanctioned Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.

Austria still imports Russian gas, although it is trying to reduce it in the coming years.

Some Austrian officials, however, hold out hope for a quick end to the war and a return to more normal relations with Russia, people familiar with the matter say.

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