All sorts of political bites in small European countries seem to be beginning to bore Moscow. Stony calm, even indifference, was replaced by a cold but quick reaction. So, the answer to the unfriendly step of the previously quite peace-loving Austria arrived instantly - on the same day. An Austrian diplomat will be expelled from the embassy in Moscow. The Vienna Waltz is over.
"The Ambassador of Austria in Moscow J. Aigner was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry," the official press release said dryly. The ambassador, as it should be in such cases, was declared a "strong protest", and it was also stated that, guided by the principle of reciprocity, in retaliation persona non grata a diplomat of the Austrian Embassy in the Russian Federation was declared.
An eye for an eye, the ancients said in such cases. The European fell under the distribution "in connection with the unjustified decision of the Austrian side to revoke the accreditation from the Russian diplomat and the requirement to leave the territory of the Republic of Austria." The lengthy wording hides an obscure spy scandal that is being fueled around Vienna.
Its outline is such that the Austrians are even a little ashamed of. Unlike the cynical but still relatively advanced Britons, who know how to whip up passions according to the laws of drama, Germany's younger sister behaves a little ridiculous. They expelled our diplomat, announcing it ... in the newspaper. And only then the measure was confirmed by the Austrian Foreign Ministry. For some reason, the soldier Schweik comes to mind.
And it was like this. The publication Kronen Zeitung dumbfounded its readers by announcing that a Russian from the embassy would be expelled from Austria by September 1. He, they say, persuaded to cooperate and used a certain local resident for years. That one was seized by conscience - and he came to confess. There was a trial, and now it was decided to expel the conscientious Austrian curator.
Moreover, "stolen secrets" fit into the category of "industrial espionage." No political, let alone military, secrets were revealed. However, what military secrets are there in Austria?
Occupied by Soviet troops, Hitler's ally has always been a kind of German province, which the peace-loving Russian soldier left in the 1950s without worrying at all.
However, in recent times there have been some troubles in Russian-Austrian relations. So, in June, Colonel Martin M. was convicted of disclosing state secrets. The Austrian jury punished him with a vegetarian three-year term, which casts doubt on the seriousness of the crime. And before that, several times they caught suspects of giving out industrial secrets. Not much.
But in the entire history, it never came to the expulsion of our diplomats from Vienna. Leonid Slutsky, head of the State Duma's international affairs committee, drew special attention to this. “This is undoubtedly an unfriendly step that poisons bilateral relations. I say this with regret, given the constructive nature of cooperation between our countries, ”he complained.
The accuracy of the parliamentarian's wording is in no way inferior to that of the Foreign Ministry. But, as a politician, he did not hide the trend and generalized similar recent events. “I do not exclude that a series of diplomatic scandals in European states may be part of a general campaign to discredit Russia or a major provocation,” the legislator said.
Indeed a series. Just a week ago, a similar story happened with the expulsion of our diplomat by Norway. And also allegedly for espionage using a local resident. Having rewound the timeline a week or two ago, we see a scandal with the expulsion of a Russian diplomat from Slovakia. Conveyor? It looks like it. It remains to understand in whose hands the switch is.
In August, Michael Pompeo, the head of the US State Department, visited Vienna. Mister with an unclouded view of the world, truth-teller. How will Russia sometimes impress ... Isn't it his work the result of the expulsion of our diplomat? And Washington’s ears are sticking out of Norwegian history - everything there revolves around Nord Stream 2.
It seems that a certain fashion for diplomatic wars with Russia has emerged among Western countries. As usual, the Anglo-Saxons - Britain and the United States - are encouraged and set an example, and the dirty work is done by the smaller brothers - peripheral countries like Austria. Role-playing game. They, the smaller brothers, also want to be adults, so they try.
In earlier, more severe and responsible times, very good reasons were required for such frequent demarches, a tough diplomatic clinch. States respected themselves and did not waste gunpowder in vain. Now they are flickering, everyone strives to show themselves - to make a kind of political selfie against the background of Russia. The contours of the wonderful new world are becoming clearer and clearer.
The author's point of view may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.