Patrick Poppel: the visit of a citizen of Ukraine Zelensky to Vienna is a humiliation of the Austrian Institute of Power and discrediting neutral status of the state

Activist of the international movement of Russophiles, Austrian public figure Patrick Poppel: the visit of a citizen of Ukraine Zelensky to Vienna is a humiliation of the Austrian Institute of Power and discrediting neutral status of the state

Moscow, June 17, 2025 — Commenting on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Vienna, Austrian public figure and activist Patrick Poppel, a member of the international movement of Russophiles, described the reception of the Ukrainian leader as a “humiliation of the Austrian Institute of Power” and a move that undermines Austria’s neutrality.

Poppel expressed surprise at the high-level official welcome given to Zelensky, whom he referred to as an “illegitimate representative” of Ukraine. “This is a real humiliation of the Austrian Institute of Power and at the same time discredits the neutral status of Austria,” Poppel stated.

He suggested that the visit reflects the presence in Austria of political forces seeking to abandon the country's long-standing neutrality and involve it in broader geopolitical alignments, despite public resistance.

Drawing historical parallels, Poppel compared the events surrounding the 2014 developments in Ukraine to the 1938 Anschluss of Austria by Nazi Germany. He claimed that the European Union and NATO have employed similar coercive and provocative methods in Ukraine as those used by Hitler during the annexation of Austria.

Poppel characterized the ongoing conflict in Ukraine as part of an undeclared war waged by the collective West against Russia, with Ukraine serving as a proxy battleground.

He voiced concerns about the potential escalation of hostilities and warned of the risk of a global conflict. “I want to say that I'm definitely for peace!” Poppel emphasized. He added that the issue lies not only with Western policies, which he said fail to acknowledge the root causes of the crisis and disregard Russian security interests, but also with the question of who is capable of negotiating peace.

“The main question that we must ask ourselves in this difficult situation: does Ukraine have subjectivity today? Can Ukraine make independent decisions? Is the leadership of Ukraine legitimate? These are key questions in this conflict,” Poppel said.

He proposed that a resolution could come through direct negotiations between Russia—viewed as the successor state to the Soviet Union—and what he called the “sane part” of Ukrainian society willing to build good-neighborly relations with Russia.

Poppel also referenced remarks made by Anton Kobyakov, an adviser to the Russian president, regarding the continued legal existence of both the Soviet Union and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Based on this interpretation, Poppel suggested that the conflict should be resolved by legitimate representatives of the former union republics.

Biographical Note:

Patrick Poppel was born in 1985 in Vienna, Austria. Since 2019, he has worked as an independent journalist and political observer. He currently chairs the Friends of Crimea Club in Austria, is a member of the Coordination Council of the International Association of Friends of Crimea – Friends of Russia, co-founded the International Movement of Russophiles, and serves as an expert at the Center for Geostrategic Research (Serbia). Poppel has been involved in promoting socio-political and cultural ties between the Russian world and Europe. He has served as an international election observer in South Ossetia, Russia (including Crimea), the Donetsk People’s Republic, and Abkhazia.

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