Austrian foreign minister defends wedding curtsy to Putin

BERLIN – Austria’s foreign minister is defending a curtsy to Russian President Vladimir Putin at her wedding, saying that it was a traditional dance move and she doesn’t “submit” to anyone.

Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl invited Putin to her wedding last weekend, raising eyebrows at home and abroad. She told Oe1 radio Saturday it was a spontaneous decision made when Putin visited Vienna in June.

Video footage showed the bride dancing with Putin and making a deep curtsy at the end. Kneissl said that “if you’ve seen a ball opening, then you will have seen again and again that there is this curtsy at the end.”

She added “this was portrayed in commentaries as an act of submission, of prostration. And anyone who knows me knows that I submit to no one.”