In September 2020, Karin Kneissl involuntarily left her home country as a result of persistent death threats and a de facto ban on working in Austria. After a long search, she found a small farm in France to make a new start with her animals.
However, the media agitation from Austria also reached her there and she was forced to move again.
In June 2022, she moved with her dogs and ponies to Lebanon, where, after a marathon through the administration, she received her residence permit and tax number and, after six months in subletting, found a house in the north of the country.
In June 2023, Karin Kneissl became a co-founder and head of the G.O.R.K.I center.
Karin Kneissl had already been doing most of her work at home in Austria since the autumn 1998. In the wake of the pandemic, it has become easier for some professions to work online. For example, Karin Kneissl works with partners in Russia, Turkey, and Switzerland via computer. Power outages are a daily occurrence in Lebanon, but with a lot of improvisation and dedication, a professional and private daily routine can be organized.
2019: Since leaving the government, Karin Kneissl has written two books, one on Diplomacy, and one on the transition of mobility. Furthermore, she contributes guest comments on Middle Eastern and energy topics to RT (Russia Today) and several other media outlets, such as Cicero, and has been doing briefings online, mostly for companies outside of Austria. In June 2021 elected as independent director of the board of Rosneft. Karin Kneissl resigned on May 20th, 2022. She had already informed the company in early March that she was not running for a second mandate.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Austria from Dec. 2017 to June 2019
She studied law and Arabic at the University of Vienna 1983-1987, was granted a scholarship for the Hebrew University of Jerusalem 1988, where she accomplished her thesis research, later on studied in Amman and on a grant basis at GU Washington, DC. She is a graduate of ENA.
Karin joined the Austrian Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1990, served in Paris and Madrid, as well as in the Legal office. She quitted the diplomatic service in october 1998 and turned into a freelance analyst. She has authored several books on energy, geopolitics and the Middle East.