Photo credit: 1tv.ru
Karin Kneissl, who previously served as Austrian Foreign Minister, called the Russian world "romantic," TASS reports. She spoke about this in Russian on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on Friday, June, 16. According to her, now she is actively studying the Russian language, and a new world is opening up before her - the Russian world. "It is a big, romantic, melancholy world," said Mrs Kneissl.
For the first time she visited Moscow about nine years ago, and two years later St. Petersburg. According to the polititian, she was always interested in Russia as a country, as well as Russian literature.
The ex-head of the Austrian MFA added that now she has to live in Lebanon, where she moved because of the threats she received.
She called St. Petersburg, where she had been for several days, Europe, and admitted that she misses it.
According to Mrs Kneisl, out of many Russian books, she especially loves Leo Tolstoy's works. She managed to visit Yasnaya Polyana and the trip was very inspiring. ''For me, it was a kind of obligation to myself - to visit places he lived in, to feel the spirit of this place,'' Kneissl said.
Russkiy Mir
