Austria accuses colonel of spying for Russia for decades

AUSTRIA launched a probe into an army colonel suspected of spying for Russia for several decades, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said Friday, the latest in a string of cases where Moscow has been accused of espionage in EU states. Kurz told a press conference that the colonel, now retired, is suspected to have begun working with Russian intelligence in the 1990s and carried on until 2018.

Russia’s foreign ministry summoned Austria's ambassador on Friday after Vienna demanded an explanation over suspicions that a retired Austrian colonel had spied for Moscow, Russian news agencies reported. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov commented on Friday on the allegations saying that he was “unpleasantly surprised” by the news, Russian news agencies RIA and Interfax reported.

Austria was one of the few European countries not to expel Russian diplomats following the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Britain in March, as the country is not a member of NATO. Austria is one of a few European Union member states that maintained close diplomatic contacts with Russia de- spite the Ukraine conflict and the Skripal case in Britain. Austria’s relationship with Russia has come under particular scrutiny since the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) entered government in coalition last December. The FPOe has had a “cooperation pact” with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party since 2016. In August, Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl caused controversy by inviting Putin as a guest of honor to her wedding.

In addition, FPOe Interior Minister Herbert Kickl admitted in September that Austria had been asked to take “trustbuilding measures” to retain cooperation with allied secret services. It followed reports that Western secret services were increasingly wary of sharing information with Austria over concerns it could be passed to Moscow.

Earlier this week the Austrian Falter weekly published what it said was a document from the Finnish domestic intelligence agency in which it asked for information from partner countries but specifically excluded Vienna’s BVT agency.