An espionage scandal rocks Austria, laying bare alleged Russian spying operation

[DGuller]

I wonder if Austria being occupied for 10 years after the war had something to do with it.

[grumbler]

I wonder if Austria being occupied for 10 years after the war had something to do with it.

That would be my guess. The agreements that led to the end of the occupation explicitly forbade Austria from "taking sides" in the Cold War, and the ten years of occupation gave the Russians plenty of time to suss out sympathizers.  Those sympathizers would then have been in a position to recruit their own replacements.

[Sheilbh]

For sure - although I also think the history of many grand coalitions and a lot of patronage is probably a factor too.

I wonder if there was also an element of thinking Cold War spies were using Austria as neutral ground and not really taking an interest in the country itself, which I think was possibly wrong?