Raiffeisenbank Bank International (RBI), Austria’s second-largest bank and asset finance provider across Central and Eastern Europe, has postponed its exit from the Russian market, even as it faces mounting pressure from European regulators and the US government.
Being the largest Western banking institution operating in Russia, RBI plays a crucial role by offering vital financial services to numerous companies within the nation.
Please don’t give them ideas, there’s enough populist politicians who would immediately follow up on that idea with disastrous results.
You are right that there’s a distressing amount of “Russia-affection” in Austria, especially on the right side of the political spectrum and in some areas of the industry.
Some of that has historical roots, because due to the neutrality Austria has long been the place where the two sides of the cold war have met and had a neutral ground. While Austria has been (and is) definitely “West” aligned (whatever that vague term means), this means that there has been and is more contact to Russia than pure geography would suggest. Note that I’m not trying to “excuse” it, but just describe some of the reasons.
I am all for keeping diplomatic channels open and especially trying to reintegrate Russia post war and post Putin. But in the case of Austria the direct influence on politics and the government is a critical problem, as it is undermining the country and the EU as a whole.