The police did not want to say anything more regarding a bottle in at least one gift bag, citing “very detailed reports”. “There will therefore be no further response from the press office,” said a police spokeswoman on Wednesday. Published police photos show an official calendar from the Russian Embassy in Vienna for 2024 and a box of hazelnut chocolates from the brand “Wdochnowenie” (German: “Inspiration”, note). The latter costs around five euros in Russian retail stores.
At the end of last week, the press office of the Vienna State Police Directorate had already confirmed that following an operation surrounding the Russian presidential elections on March 17, the Russian embassy had handed over paper bags containing “items of low value” to officials. However, an explicit question regarding the specific contents of the gift bags with the Russian national coat of arms remained unanswered at the time.
No misconduct under civil service law
Although this does not constitute misconduct under the Civil Service Law Act, it leaves an undesirable impression that does not do justice to the professional conduct of the officers on site, the press office explained. “The officials were made aware of this and were encouraged to politely but firmly reject such attention in the future, even if it was of little value,” it said. The latter corresponds to internal recommendations: “Employees are always on the ‘safe side’ if a gift is politely but firmly rejected,” says the Interior Ministry’s official code of conduct.
