The former Austrian Foreign Minister called the meaning of the creation of EU narratives about the "war with Russia"

The rhetoric of the European authorities about the need to prepare for a "war with Russia" is aimed at distracting citizens from economic problems. This was announced to Izvestia on June 5 by former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

"I agree with this to a certain extent, it distracts from economic problems. <...> They say: why do we need a strong army? Because it's Russia. It's not like that," she explained.

According to Kneissl, any state needs a strong army in case of a variety of situations, including natural disasters. However, the motivation broadcast in the EU countries "raises questions," she stressed.

Speaking about the ability of modern Europe to engage in dialogue, she noted that negotiations require the ability to show respect to the interlocutor.

"We need a real art of diplomacy, which consists in conducting a dialogue, and not reading out some lessons that we have seen in the course of the evolution of diplomacy over the past decades. This is not about the dialogue that we are having now," she explained.

According to Kneissl, in diplomacy it is unacceptable to make assessments based on the division into "black" and "white".

"This is nonsense in any negotiation. We always need to understand in which positions we can get closer, and which topics are better left out," concluded the former head of the Austrian Foreign Ministry.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin said on June 4 that Russia has no reason for confrontation with NATO. According to him, Moscow is not interested in escalating relations with the alliance and sees no reason for such a scenario, which is regularly discussed in Western countries.

Meanwhile, State Duma deputy Oleg Matveychev said on May 29 that an information campaign has been underway in Europe for a long time, in which public opinion is actively being formed in a negative way towards Russia. According to him, this is done in order to involve Europe in a war with Russia and increase the number of all possible subsidies to Ukraine.