Russian media outlets, including RIA Novosti , NTV , Vesti.ru , REN TV , RT , and Rossiyskaya Gazeta , wrote that the Austrians "demanded to end support for Kiev and lift sanctions on Russia." "RIA" came out with the headline "the Austrians were at the limit because of Ukraine." And here is what they write "Vesti":
Most of the people of Austria want their country to show “true neutrality” by refusing financial support from Kyiv and EU anti-Russian sanctions.
The reason for these high-profile statements was an article in the Austrian tabloid Exxpress about a certain open letter to the government, the authors of which demand that Austria return to “absolute neutrality” regarding the war in Ukraine. The rhetoric of the Russian leadership is very well recognized in the letter – here, for example, is an excerpt from it:
The NATO Western Defense Alliance, led by the US government and with the active support of European states, has launched an economic conflict by imposing sanctions that go far beyond the war in Ukraine.
The author of this initiative was a certain businessman Gerald Markel. The Exxpress article also provides a link to the letter itself – at the moment, according to the figure on the site, a little more than 47 thousand people have signed it.
Firstly, apart from the figure of 47 thousand, there is no personal data of the signatories on the site – no names, no surnames, not even nicknames. Therefore, it is impossible to prove that these are genuine people, and even more so since each of them is a resident of Austria. Unlike petitions on the Change.org site, where signers can leave comments under their real names, this site only has a number, and only 13 people (apparently, the authors of the initiative) are listed under the letter. In addition, as The Insider was convinced, anyone can register and sign on the site, including from another country. The site does not even require a standard e-mail confirmation in such cases.
But even if we assume that each of those who supported the initiative is not a bot and is really a resident of Austria, 47 thousand is about half a percent of the population of this country (according to the latest data , it is about 8.9 million people). This is definitely not the "majority", as Vesti says, and not even some significant minority.
The initiative's author, Gerald Markel, described in Exxpress as a "blogger and entrepreneur," maintains his blog about politics on Telegram with some very loud statements. For example, during the coronavirus pandemic, he spread fakes about the alleged general death from vaccination, which he called fascism, and compared the government’s policy with 1938. Apparently, Markel is also an ardent admirer of Vladimir Putin. In July of this year, he predicted an imminent Russian victory in Ukraine (which is very reminiscent of the statements of Russian propagandists at the beginning of the war about “taking Kiev in three days”):
Russia has long won the war in the Donbass. Ukraine's announced counter-offensive is a madman's fantasy in Kyiv: by the end of August at the latest, all areas where the majority of ethnic Russians live will come under Russian control. Then Putin will come forward with a proposal to stop the war, and the people of the West will have to protest and force their governments to stop this madness.
Here is another passage that says a lot about the level of a blogger:
Nord Stream 1 is working again, and when the turbine finally arrives in Russia, it will return to its previous capacity. Of course, Putin is punishing all the politicians of hatred, warmongers and keyboard whores who have been keeping the German and Austrian population in fear and panic over a total gas blockade for several days now.
As for the real attitude of Austrians towards Russia's war with Ukraine, a Eurobarometer poll published in early September showed that 50% of citizens are satisfied with the EU's reaction to Russian aggression, 52% are satisfied with the reaction of the Austrian government, 50% support the supply of military equipment to Ukraine, and 64% – sanctions against Russia.