RETIRED COLONEL CHARGED WITH SPYING FOR RUSSIA

VIENNA Austrian prosecutors said on Friday they have charged a retired army colonel with spying and betraying state and military secrets, alleging that he worked for Russian military intelligence for at least 25 years.

The now 71-year-old former officer was arrested a year ago when spying allegations against him were first made public, embarrassing the then right-wing government that had positioned Austria as arguably Moscow’s closest ally in the European Union.

In a statement detailing the charges against him, the prosecutors’ office and police in his home province of Salzburg outlined what is believed to be his lengthy career as a spy and some of the elaborate communication methods involved.

From 1993 onward, the officer provided “comprehensive information from the military spectrum of the Austrian Armed Forces, particularly on weapons systems and the assignment of tasks of ground and air forces,” the statement said.