MOSCOW, January 15. /TASS/. The lack of reaction by the international community to the kidnapping of heads of state will turn such actions into common practice, former Austrian Foreign Minister and head of the G.O.R.K.I. Center at St. Petersburg State University Karin Kneissl said in an interview with TASS, commenting on the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to the US.
"There is an old Latin saying, qui tacet, videtur consentire, meaning silence gives consent," she said. "This principle also applies in law, where silence can signify acceptance of an agreement or recognition of a situation. That is exactly why the processes unfolding today are so exceptionally dangerous."
"I may be exaggerating slightly, but if it becomes possible to kidnap a president from his own country and, as US President Donald Trump himself said, ‘It could happen to anyone,’ then in the absence of protest this will become the new norm and the new practice," Kneissl said. She added that this is why "the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross protest so frequently and so strongly against Israeli settlement activity in the occupied territories, because it violates international law." "Yes, the Israelis continue to do this. Clearly, no one is able to stop them. But protest is necessary, because if you do not protest, it becomes the norm," she stressed.
"We are finding ourselves in a situation comparable, at least in our region, to the Viking era," the former Austrian foreign minister said. She noted that this was exactly how the Vikings acted, attacking settlements, kidnapping women, beheading leaders, and taking children hostage. "That is how it was in the 10th and 11th centuries. Now a thousand years later, we're back in the same place. The Mongols and others acted somewhat differently, collecting payments in exchange for a certain form of protection," she added.
Kneissl pointed out that kidnappings of leaders and heads of state have occurred throughout human history. "This is not unprecedented. However, over the past 400 to 500 years we have developed certain norms, for example in maritime law, that allowed international trade to flourish and made cooperation possible even in times of war," she said.
Kneissl also warned that the world risks sliding back into a pre-modern era. "For me, as someone from Central Europe, modernity began with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, which marked a kind of new beginning. Of course, the concept of modernity is debatable, as are nationalism and other issues. But I am deeply concerned about the form archaic behavior is taking today. It is not only that the US is acting this way, but that the rest of the world is largely silent," she said.
Remains of international law
Kneissl recalled that more than twenty years ago she taught international law at an American university and, with a touch of irony, referred to her course as "Whatever remains of international law." "I felt somewhat uncomfortable telling my students that this was an introduction to international law, because already in the 1990s, after the Kosovo war and against the backdrop of the war on terror and other events, much of this field had been dismantled and distorted," she explained.
She also recalled repeated discussions with American colleagues and students who would say openly that international law did not exist and did not matter to them. "Young people were saying this to me 24 years ago. I had to make a real effort to explain the rules, the norms, and the very essence of international law, and to defend the idea that it has meaning. Because if all these norms are simply discarded, chaos will follow," she said.
The former top diplomat noted that today the US has a president who effectively says that international law does not apply to him. "Everything is quite clear. We are dealing with a state of almost complete anarchy at the highest level," she said. "If we look at Europe’s reaction, we see either applause or silence. For example, former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said that everything happening is wonderful."
Kneissl also recalled debates during her time as foreign minister when the situation in Venezuela arose and parliamentary speaker Juan Guaido was put forward against Maduro. "A discussion unfolded in the EU over whether we needed to recognize Guaido instead of Maduro. I tried to explain to my colleagues and my own government that, under the UN Charter, the president of Venezuela is Maduro, and the speaker of parliament is not a head of state," she said. "Which government is in power in a capital is the choice of the people. Internal factors may influence this, but these are domestic affairs. We do not recognize governments, we recognize states."
At the same time, she noted, the European Union stated that it did not recognize Maduro and treated this as acceptable. "Again, either silence or applause," Kneissl said. "Yet there is one extremely important element in international law, namely how law is formed. It is created through practice. International law develops when states take certain actions with the intention of establishing a legal norm," she concluded.