Austria accuses colonel of spying for Russia for decades
Austria has 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.
"Of course if such cases are confirmed, whether it be in the Netherlands or in Austria, it can't improve the relationship between the EU and Russia," Kurz told reporters in Vienna. He was referring to the expulsion of four Russian agents by the Netherlands in April for allegedly planning a cyber-attack on the world's chemical weapons watchdog in The Hague.
Austrian Defence Minister Mario Kunasek said the case came to light "a few weeks ago" as a result of information from another European intelligence agency. Kunasek said that under questioning, the colonel said the Russians had been interested "in weapons systems, in the migration situation here in Austria in recent years. Profiles of certain people were also created and passed on," Kunasek said.
Austria is not a member of NATO and sets great store by its status as a neutral country. As such it 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. Austria's relationship with Russia has come under particular scrutiny since the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) entered government in coalition last December.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/11/09/austria-accuses-colonel-of-spying-for-russia-for-decades.html