In 2018, Putin presented an earring of 50,000 euros to the Austrian minister.

Vienna, March 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the then-Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl an earring worth 50,000 euros as a wedding gift for 2018, according to Kronen Zeitung every day Putin attended Kneissl's wedding in August 2018, acquiring a foreign portfolio for the proposal of the supranational party FPÖ, and the photos of the minister dancing with him and bowing down to him caused controversy. According to documents that Kronen Zeitung claims to have, among the wedding gifts of the Russian president were 23-gram sapphire earrings worth 50,000 euros in 2019 at the famous auction house. This gift caused a conflict between Kneisl and the Ministry of Education, which informed the owner that as an active politician he could not receive a gift of that value and that the earrings belonged to the Austrian state. After the government union between the Conservative People's Party and the FPÖ broke when she left her position in 2019, Kneisl and the jewel could continue to be used as a loan, but the heir agreed that she should return it to Austria after the death of the former minister. Kronen Zeitung claims that the former minister called it a “curb contract”, although it is not clear whether this agreement is still in force. After leaving the government, Kneissl worked as an analyst for Russian pro-government television RT and is currently a member of the board of directors of Russia's largest oil company Rosneft. The former minister has not yet given up that position, unlike other former European officials who quit their jobs at Russian state-owned enterprises after Moscow invaded Ukraine. During the 17-month coalition between the Conservative Party and the Ultra, the Austrian Intelligence Service was isolated because of fears that a close relationship between FPÖ and Russia aroused among its allies. /jack (Photo)