Far-right to lose control of Austria spy agency

Chancellor takes direct command after coalition party’s link to Russia alarms European allies

THE far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) is set to lose exclusive oversight of the country’s intelligence services after co-operation with Britain and European allies was suspended.

Sebastian Kurz, the Austrian chancellor, moved to bring the intelligence services under his direct control this week as it emerged that the country had been isolated from European intelligence sharing.

Austria had been excluded from the Club de Berne, Europe’s intelligence sharing forum, for the best part of a year, the head of the country’s domestic intelligence service admitted on Monday.

Concerns among Austria’s allies are believed to centre on the close relationship between Russia and the Freedom Party, Mr Kurz’s coalition partner, which was in control of the intelligence services.

There are also believed to be concerns over the sharing of classified material, following a raid authorised by the interior ministry last year in which police seized secret files.

Mr Kurz appears to have been spurred into action by alleged links between the Freedom Party and the Identitarian Movement, a far-right group that has been connected to the chief suspect in the New Zealand mosque shootings.

“Far-right extremism has no place in any political party,” Mr Kurz said on Monday. “Any sort of involvement with the Identitarians must stop. Looking away is not an option.”

Heinz-christian Strache, the Freedom Party leader, said he was not opposed to the intelligence services reporting to the chancellor’s office in principle but urged that the move should not be rushed.

Politicians in neighbouring Germany have called for intelligence sharing not to be resumed after it emerged that Herbert Kickl, the Austrian interior minister, gave a speech at an event organised by the Identitarian Movement in 2016 at which he welcomed the audience as “like-minded people”.

“We have to ask, especially in Germany, what classified material can be shared with an FPÖ interior who once gave lectures to far-right cadres,” Elmar Brok of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrat party said.

The Identitarian movement has come under the spotlight after it emerged that Austrian police are investigating a suspected sizeable donation to the group from Brenton Tarrant, the suspected gunman currently being held over the New Zealand mosque shootings.

The row appears to have forced Mr Kurz to act against his coalition partners. Putting the intelligence services under his control was part of his 2017 manifesto but looked to have been quietly forgotten.

Until this week, he has studiously avoided commenting on controversies involving the Freedom Party.

The West is believed to be concerned by the party’s close links to Russia after it signed a cooperation deal with Vladimir Putin’s party in 2016.