She danced with Putin at her wedding. Now the former Austrian foreign minister has moved to Russia

By EMMA BURROWS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — A former Austrian foreign minister who had invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to her wedding and danced a waltz with him at the 2018 reception says she has moved to St. Petersburg to set up a think tank there. Karin Kneissl announced on messaging app Telegram on Wednesday that her ponies, which she has been keeping in Syria, were taken to Russia on a Russian military plane. The 58-year-old was nominated as a non-party member by the right-wing Freedom Party to serve as foreign minister, a position which she held from 2017 to 2019. She was repeatedly criticized during that time in Austrian and German media for her pro-Russia views.