The Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs intends to close its embassies in the Baltic States and Malta by 2018 in order to save a total of 39 million euros, Austria's Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz said, reports APA agency.
Kurz further noted that Austria plans to open representative offices in "more strategically important countries." As reported by Delfi, the minister is talking about Belarus, Moldova and Georgia.
The minister rejected suggestions that the closure of embassies was due to the crisis in Ukraine and the migrant crisis in the EU.
