VIENNA — Austria’s political leaders are pushing back after former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev launched another verbal attack, this time targeting Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger of the liberal NEOS party.
Medvedev, now deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council, ridiculed Meinl-Reisinger for suggesting negotiations in the Ukraine war, sneering that “apparently the drunkenness from Austrian schnapps has worn off.”
The remark drew sharp criticism in Vienna. NEOS secretary-general Douglas Hoyos said Medvedev’s insults revealed more than bad manners. “That Medvedev now resorts to personal attacks and absurd comparisons shows the Kremlin’s growing nervousness, because Europe refuses to be divided,” Hoyos said.
He argued that such rhetoric is not simply provocation, but part of Moscow’s “strategy of interference and intimidation.” Austria, he added, should respond with unity at home and solidarity with European partners. Only weeks earlier, Medvedev had threatened Austria with military action if it were ever to pursue NATO membership.
Greens Demand Consequences
The Green Party also condemned Medvedev’s comments. Meri Disoski, the party’s spokeswoman on foreign and European policy, voiced her “full solidarity” with Meinl-Reisinger, describing the former Russian leader’s words as a “massive transgression that cannot remain without consequences.”
Disoski called for Russia’s top envoy in Vienna to be summoned to the foreign ministry for explanations. At present, however, Russia does not have an ambassador in Austria and is represented only at the chargé d’affaires level.
The escalating war of words highlights how Austria, officially neutral but firmly aligned with the European Union, is increasingly caught in Moscow’s rhetorical crossfire.
