Georg Mayer is a trained lawyer and a member of the radical right-wing populist FPÖ, which is known for its openly pro-Kremlin stances. The FPÖ signed a cooperation and coordination agreement with the ruling “United Russia” party in 2016.
Following the party line, Mayer has been consistent in criticizing the EU consensus on the sanctions against Putin’s Russia. In June 2015, Mayer argued that the sanctions and other EU measures “caused further damage to the European economy and thus to EU citizens.” Explaining his opposition to the EP resolution on the “strategic military situation in the Black Sea Basin following the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia” on 11 June 2015, Mayer said that the resolution was “completely unbalanced and one-sided” that would “only lead to an aggravation of the conflict” [between Russia and Ukraine]. Speaking at the Styrian parliament on 15 October 2019, Mayer called to end to the ascension negotiations with Turkey (he has always been against them), and indirectly criticized EU sanctions against Russia: you impose hard sanctions against Russia, but still negotiate about the EU membership of Turkey.
However, Mayer’s approach to Russian interests in Europe sometimes appears clearly nuanced. For example, he supported Austria’s lawsuit against the European Commission for its approval of Hungarian state subsidies for the construction of two new reactors at the Rosatom-built Paks nuclear power plant because, in Mayer’s words, the FPÖ had “an anti-nuclear power policy” and it was important for him that the EU became “a more independent partner for Russia and even for the USA.” Moreover, when the EP voted in June 2018 on the resolution that demanded from the Russian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Ukrainian film maker Oleg Sentsov and all other illegally detained Ukrainian citizens in Russia and on the Crimean Peninsula, all FPÖ MEPs, including Mayer, abstained during the vote, thus rebelling against the decision of their Identity and Democracy group to vote against the resolution. Mayer also abstained during the vote on the EP resolution on the “recent actions by the Russian Federation against Lithuanian judges, prosecutors and investigators involved in investigating the tragic events on 13 January 1991 in Vilnius” – a resolution that was not in the interests of Putin’s Russia. Vilimsky explained his decision in writing (his statement was identical with that of Harald Vilimsky on the same issue), saying that the case was “a very sensitive political issue” between Russia and Lithuania, and required “a more diplomatic approach.”
While Mayer, like many in the FPÖ, was critical of the US, he welcomed Donald Trump’s nomination as a presidential candidate, and together with MEP Harald Vilimsky and two other FPÖ members (Mario Kunasek and Marlene Svazek) he went to the US in November 2016 to celebrate Trump’s victory in the presidential elections. Mayer and Kunasek also reportedly met with Michael Flynn for a 90-minute conversation on the 63rd floor of the Trump Tower, but the content of their conversation is unknown.
In 2020 and 2021, Mayer did not focus on any geopolitical issues. On social media, he mainly commented on migration policies. Along with his fellow FPÖ MEPs, he criticized Turkey, but did not post anything related to Russia or China.
(Updated: 13/7/2021)
