Vienna is crawling with Russian spies inviting sources to skiing holidays
- Vienna, Austria, has become the prime European city for spies, especially from Russia, to set up.
- The country has no legislation banning espionage unrelated to national affairs.
Nearly a year and a half into Russia's war in Ukraine, Austria has expelled remarkably few Russian spies in comparison to its neighbors, as a coalition of MPs are urging their government to clamp down on espionage.
Austria's government has instead suspended two parliamentary votes on the matter, providing a ripe environment for continental and international spying, per The Financial Times.
Vienna's longtime legal approach has been to ignore the espionage if it doesn't concern its own national affairs. And with the International Atomic Energy Agency and various international bodies based in the city, the lackadaisical attitude has posed a host of security problems.
Austria has expelled only four Russian spies posing as diplomats, while neighbors equipped with more robust laws have expelled over 400 spies since the start of Russia's war, the Times reported. There are 180 accredited Russian diplomats in Vienna, and a third of them are assumed to be spies, per the report.
For example, in July 2022, The Washington Post reported that Egisto Ott, a former official in Austria's security services who managed undercover agents, was arrested on suspicion of selling state secrets to Russia.
The ongoing case shows the fine line between espionage that implicates Austria, and spying that uses Austria as a fertile ground while Russia's war in Ukraine rages on.
"Vienna is a perfect hub for spying, and always was," Gustav Gressel, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations and former Austrian military officer, told the Times. "If you are a Russian intelligence officer, and you want to run a source in Germany, why would you run the risk of meeting him there? You invite this guy on a skiing holiday in Austria."
A conservative and Green party coalition in Austria has pushed for legislation that would ban spying "against a foreign state or international organization," but Vienna's unpopular government has twice called for more time to consider it before allowing a vote.
Recently, Chinese, Saudi, Iranian and Israeli spies have also benefitted from the power vacuum in Vienna, the Times reported. And some Western officials are monitoring the situation, with others getting in on the action.
"It really is the Wild West," a Western diplomat in Austria told the Times under the condition of anonymity. "It's almost comical how much is being gotten away with here. Even from our side, I am sure."