Western media theory about "Russian trail" in Austria corruption scandal is fake - Russian Foreign Ministry
MOSCOW. May 23 (Interfax) - The government crisis in Austria is its internal affair and the theory circulated by some Western media outlets about a "Russian trail" in the corruption scandal is a fake, the Russian Foreign Ministry's spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.
"As for how the situation in Austria will affect the bilateral relations: exactly the same way as it will those with other countries. This is a domestic political story, which actually concerns not Russia but primarily Austria itself," Zakharova said at a briefing in Moscow on Thursday.
"This is Austria's domestic affair. It is a domestic issue. We can see how this story is being portrayed in the media. I am not very certain that these are the results of journalistic investigations. The feeling is that this is an ordered fabrication. Things are being said, and linked to Russia, which are untrue," Zakharova said.
The European Union could investigate this situation on the subject of fakeness and misrepresentation, she said.
"If the EU, if Brussels, fights propaganda, fakes and fabrications, [it should] investigate this case. There is every precondition for this being called an ordered campaign. The reason is simple: this big puzzle lacks crucial evidence. Why call people, who don't Russian citizenship, Russians?"
Astonishly, the information was reported by the Euronews and a number of German publications, Zakharova said.
"We were shocked by many things but most of all by the Euronews and the way it was presented by the media in Germany. What Russia's got to do with it is totally incomprehensible," she said.