VIENNA, March 11. /TASS/. It turned out impossible to "cancel" Russian culture in Austria, but there are no contacts between Moscow and Vienna in this area at the state level, Russian journalists by the special representative of the Russian President for international cultural cooperation, Mikhail Shvydkoy.

"If you look at the billboard of the Vienna Opera, you will be convinced that there has been no cancelation of Russian culture, because Russian performers, soloists, participate in various concert programs, including the Salzburg Festival and other musical projects. But at the institutional level, especially at the government level, there are no contacts," Shvydkoy noted.

According to the official, he had preliminary agreements on meetings with representatives of the Austrian authorities, but communication did not take place. Shvydkoy called the refusal of Austrian officials to communicate "an extremely short-sighted position" given the large role of Russia in the history of Austria. "We need to think about the future, and not just live in the present, no matter how difficult it may be," he summed up.

Shvydkoy is in Austria on a visit. He visited the Russian House in Vienna, where he met with compatriots and local cultural figures. After Vienna, the special representative of the Russian President for international cultural cooperation will visit Bratislava, where he will meet with representatives of the Slovak authorities. Earlier, the Minister of Culture of Slovakia, Martina Simkovicova, canceled the ruling under which, after February 24, 2022, the republic’s cultural cooperation with Russia and Belarus was stopped.