Karin Kneissl has defended dacing with some counterparts as an essential diplomatic tool, arguing that diplomacy extends well beyond “presenting each other with policy brief notes.”
READ MORE: Putin Dances With Austrian Foreign Minister at Her Wedding (PHOTOS)
The foreign minister further told reporters that her British counterpart, Jeremy Hunt, was “an excellent dancer and a charming gentleman” while they performed a bossa nova on the sidelines of the EU foreign ministers’ summit.
"Diplomacy is about much more than presenting each other with policy brief notes… A dance doesn't have any political implications, whether I dance with Jeremy or anyone else. I have danced with so many men before," she said at a press conference with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.
Kneissl recently received much flak for inviting President Vladimir Putin to her wedding and dancing a waltz with him. The couple was filmed dancing, with Kneissl doing a curtsy during the waltz, which was widely regarded as being submissive to the Russian president.
READ MORE: Austrian FM's Wedding: WATCH Putin Dance, Congratulate Couple in German
The Austrian foreign minister, for her part, has defended the dance, stressing that her curtsy was part of the waltz, and she was “not at all submissive to anybody.”