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Kneissl now considers Russia her home

The former Austrian foreign minister has added that she is doing her best to improve her Russian language proficiency

MOSCOW, October 11. /TASS/. Former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl said that she feels at home in Russia and is trying to improve her Russian language skills.

Earlier, Kneissl said she would move to St. Petersburg to work at the G.O.R.K.I. (The Geopolitical Observatory for Russia's Key Issues) center, which she heads. This summer, the former minister lived in the Ryazan region, where she arrived after the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

"I've lucked out, and now I feel at home in Russia, that's true," she told TASS in an interview on the sidelines of the Russian Energy Week. "But the language is a big obstacle for me. I am trying improve my Russian in my spare time, because the language is a very important tool in my work. You understand, I'm not here to play tennis or soccer. Everyone has to do their job, and I work here. So, I'm doing my best to improve my knowledge of Russian."

She noted that she is surrounded by "a large number of kind and resourceful people willing to offer their help" at the university. "This allows us to accomplish a large number of tasks. Our first negotiation workshop will start next Monday, and we have already done the first analysis. So, even though we have a small team, we have already managed to get quite far. And I'm definitely glad that four weeks ago I was able to move here with my animals from Lebanon, because I knew it wouldn't be easy," Kneissl added.

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