Putin Waltzes At Austrian Foreign Minister’s Wedding
- By Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin danced arm-in-arm with Austria's Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl at her wedding on August 18 in a video distributed by the Kremlin. Putin arrived with a bouquet of flowers and -- according to Austrian media reports -- a troupe of Cossack singers booked to serenade Kneissl and her husband Wolfgang Meilinger, an Austrian entrepreneur, at their wedding party in the southern Styria province. Putin said it was a private visit from which he proceeded to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel outside Berlin. The invitation extended to him by Kneissl surprised many in Vienna at a time when the European Union is at odds with Russia over its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, among other issues. Kneissl, a Middle East expert without political affiliation, was appointed to her job by the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) which has a cooperation agreement with Putin's United Russia party. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz also attended the wedding.