The deputy mayor of one of the Austrian cities resigned because of a photo in the uniform of the NKVD in Belarus

The Austrian politician resigned after it was reported that he wore the uniform of the Soviet NKVD special service during a trip to Belarus.

Deputy mayor Austrian of the city of Shwekhat David Stockinger resigned after it became known that he published in far-right magazines and wore the uniform of the Soviet secret service NKVD during a trip to Belarus in 2019.

About this writes Euractiv.

Journalists found out that in 2012 Stockinger, now a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ), published a review of Minsk nightclubs for the extremist right-wing German magazine Compact.

Photos of Stockinger in NKVD uniform published Belarusian state information agency “BELTA”.

“When a significant part of the SPÖ party, which is now in opposition, did not appear at the speech of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi before the Austrian parliament at the end of March, the party’s position on Russia and its wider sphere of influence came under the scrutiny of journalists,” the report said.

Radio station Ö1 revealed a photo of the politician in the uniform of the Soviet NKVD special service in 2019, when he was visiting Belarus.

After the center-right in Stockinger’s native Lower Austria called on the Social Democrats to disown him, David Stockinger announced his resignation.

Although Stockinger is a relatively unknown SPÖ politician, his resignation is politically significant as it draws attention to the party’s relationship with the Kremlin’s sphere of influence.

In 2020, Stockinger was forced to resign as head of the Austrian-Belarusian Friendship Group.

We will remind in Austria declared that they are ready to arrest Putin if he comes to the country.

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