Austria says it must deter Russian infiltration after allegations of spying emerge

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The arrest in recent days of a former Austrian intelligence officer on serious allegations of spying for Russia suggests that Austria needs to boost its security to thwart Russian infiltration, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said Monday. “We have to avoid having Russian spy networks threaten our country by infiltrating or instrumentalizing political parties and networks.” Nehammer said he would convene the National Security Council on Tuesday of next week. The Vienna public prosecutor’s office declined to provide details about the spying allegations, but said that they relate to “abuse of office” and were “detrimental to Austria.” Britain has arrested five Bulgarian citizens last year and a sixth one in February and has charged them with allegedly being members of a Russian spy network working together with Jan Marsalek, the fugitive former chief operating officer of Wirecard, the German payment processing company that collapsed in 2020. Joint reporting by Der Spiegel, German public broadcaster ZDF, the Austrian newspaper Der Standard and the Russian investigative platform The Insider said last month that Ott and another former Austrian intelligence officer are suspected of having spied on potential targets in Europe and having passed the information to Jan Marsalek, who they allege has had connections to Russian intelligence since at least 2014.