With or without the far right in power, Austria's links with Russia cause concern among allies

[October 23, 2024]  By STEPHANIE LIECHTENSTEIN

VIENNA (AP) — Tens of thousands of devastated Swifties trading friendship bracelets, wearing sparkly dresses and singing songs in the streets of Vienna. Workers taking down the Taylor Swift stage inside an empty stadium.

This was the scene at the beginning of August in the Austrian capital after organizers abruptly canceled Swift’s three shows over threats of an attack by Islamic State group militants.

Intelligence-sharing was instrumental in preventing a tragedy, Austrian and U.S. officials said. But it relies on mutual trust — confidence that secrets will not fall into the wrong hands or be leaked to hostile governments.

Austria’s Western allies have grown increasingly worried about this possibility in recent weeks. The country’s political parties have maintained an openness to Russia for decades — part of a traditional foreign policy of neutrality — but none more so than the far-right Freedom Party, which secured the largest share of the vote in last month’s national election.

If the Freedom Party is part of Austria’s next government, some analysts warn that intelligence-sharing could be drastically restricted, if not stopped altogether.

For now, the center-right People’s Party has a mandate to form a governing coalition. Negotiations will be held in the weeks and months ahead without the Freedom Party since the conservatives and all other parties have ruled out governing with the far right. But if those negotiations fail, the Freedom Party will be waiting in the wings.

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This story, supported by the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, is part of an ongoing Associated Press series covering threats to democracy in Europe.

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Austrian and U.S. officials confirmed that intelligence-sharing was instrumental in preventing a tragedy. But that kind of exchange of information relies on mutual trust – confidence that secrets will not fall into the wrong hands or be leaked to hostile governments. In the case of the U.S. and most of the EU, those hostile governments include Russia.

In February 2018, when Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl was interior minister, several foreign intelligence services cut Austria out from intelligence sharing as a result of a police raid that his ministry ordered on its own domestic intelligence agency.

The raid, which was ruled illegal by an Austrian court in August 2018,shocked the country. It prompted a parliamentary inquiry and led to the agency being shut down.

A Russian role?
It is still unclear if or to what extent Russia could have pulled the strings.

Beate Meinl-Reisinger, who heads the liberal Neos party in Austria, told a news conference in May that Kickl and the Freedom Party in 2018 either knowingly agreed to work for Russia’s interests or acted as “useful idiots.”

The parliamentary inquiry found that senior officials at the Interior Ministry, at the time headed by Kickl, played an active role by using accusations against senior government and intelligence officials in an anonymous dossier to push prosecutors to sign off on the raid. Kickl has denied any wrongdoing.

The accusations in the dossier, including corruption, the mishandling of sensitive data and sexual harassment, went up in smoke, but after four years of investigation, it’s still not clear who compiled and leaked the document.

Austrian media report that investigators are pursuing whether Egisto Ott, a disgruntled former intelligence official suspected of spying for Russia, may have compiled the dossier in an effort to undermine the intelligence service, possibly because of his own frustrations with the agency.

Green Party lawmaker David Stögmüller said that by pushing for the raid, the Freedom Party “wanted to smash the domestic intelligence agency and create something new with faces close to their own party.”

The party’s alleged attempts to reshape the domestic intelligence agency were only disrupted after its then-leader was forced to resign after being caught on video apparently offering public contracts in return for campaign donations

The raid’s repercussions are still being felt. German lawmakers have said their government should review its cooperation with Austria if the Freedom Party is part of the new government.

“In light of the massive danger posed by Russia to peace and stability in Europe, we cannot allow relevant information to be handed over directly to Russia,” Konstantin Kuhle, a lawmaker with one of Germany's governing parties and a member of the intelligence oversight committee in the German parliament, told German newspaper Handelsblatt earlier this month.

Herbert Kickl, leader of the Freedom Party of Austria waves to supporters, in Vienna, Austria, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, after polls closed in the country's national election. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru, File)

“Should the far-right Freedom Party become part of the next government and be given control over the intelligence agencies again, the trust of foreign intelligence services will certainly be up for debate again,” said Thomas Riegler, an espionage expert affiliated with the Austrian Center for Intelligence, Propaganda and Security Studies.

Among the items seized in the illegal 2018 raid was a copy of the so-called Neptune Database — a hard drive containing sensitive information shared by foreign intelligence agencies with Austria.

“The mistrust foreign partners have of the Freedom Party is rooted in the party’s relationship with Russia,” Rieger said.

The Freedom Party calls for an end to sanctions against Russia. It is critical of Western military aid to Ukraine, and signed a friendship agreement in 2016 with Putin’s United Russia Party that it now claims has expired.

But the Freedom Party is not the only one to have enabled Russian influence. Mainstream parties have also played their part, at the risk of undermining Austrian and European security. This has a lot to do with Austria’s post-war history.

Austria, which was annexed by Nazi Germany in the run-up to World War II, declared neutrality after the war under pressure from Western allies and the Soviet Union. It sought a role as a mediator between East and West, developing ties with Moscow that outlasted the Cold War.

“Austria’s neutrality, the many international organizations in Vienna, its geostrategic location and lenient espionage laws all have turned Austria into a hotbed for Russian and other espionage,” Riegler said.

Espionage is only explicitly banned if directed against Austria itself, not if it targets other countries or international organizations.

Since 2020, 11 Russian diplomats suspected of spying have been told to leave Austria. In contrast, Germany closed down four out of five Russian consulates last year.

As of March 2024, Russia had 142 diplomats and 116 administrative and technical personnel accredited in Austria. Approximately 25% are likely spies, said an Austrian intelligence official, who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive topic.

The true number is likely higher: it may include diplomats’ relatives and employees of semi-official institutions such as schools, airlines offices or media organizations, the official added.

“The reluctance of the Austrian Foreign Ministry to expel more Russian diplomats is a scandal and poses a security risk for the country,” said Stephanie Krisper, whose NEOS party champions a tougher stance towards Russia.

Austria’s foreign ministry says the number of Russian diplomats expelled is “in the median of the European field.”

In a written response to The Associated Press, Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said: “My position is very clear: International law is the basis of my actions. As the first Austrian Foreign Minister ever, I have not shied away from taking appropriate measures and expelled diplomats whenever it is brought to my attention that they have engaged in acts incompatible with their diplomatic status.”

But in its 2023 annual report, Austria’s domestic intelligence agency DSN emphasized the danger of Russian and other espionage. Radar and satellite installations on the roofs of Russian diplomatic representations in Vienna are used for gathering intelligence on European NATO states, it said, thereby leading to a “loss of reputation” for Austria.

“Austria lets espionage happen on its soil that is directed against the security interests and values of European and other partner states,” said a senior European diplomat who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive topic.

Given the historical connections between Austria and Russia, the situation is unlikely to change much, no matter who is in the next government, the diplomat said.

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