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

[Syt]

https://apnews.com/article/austria-spying-scandal-russia-ott-marsalek-wirecard-8921f3ce95b30646ee1952bf8949a43f#:~:text=Between%202017%20and%202021%2C%20the,making%20requests%20to%20other%20European

This one has been pretty big news here for the last few weeks:

An espionage scandal rocks Austria, laying bare alleged Russian spying operations across Europe

VIENNA (AP) — Austria faces its biggest espionage scandal in decades as the arrest of a former intelligence officer brings to light evidence of extensive Russian infiltration, lax official oversight and behavior worthy of a spy novel.

Egisto Ott was arrested March 29. The 86-page arrest warrant, obtained by The Associated Press, alleges among other things that he handed over cellphone data of former high-ranking Austrian officials to Russian intelligence, helped plot a burglary at a prominent journalist's apartment, and wrote up "suggestions for improvement" after a Russian-ordered killing in Germany.

Ott is suspected of having provided sensitive information to Jan Marsalek, a fugitive fellow Austrian wanted on suspicion of fraud since the collapse in 2020 of German payment company Wirecard, where he was the chief operating officer. The warrant says chat messages provided by British authorities link Marsalek directly to the Russian intelligence agency FSB.

German and Austrian media have reported that Marsalek is believed to have had connections to Russian intelligence since at least 2014. He is now thought to be in Russia.

Thomas Riegler, a historian and espionage expert affiliated with the Austrian Center for Intelligence, Propaganda and Security Studies, said the case has "the potential for one of the biggest espionage stories in recent Austrian history."

"The case is special given its international dimension and the fact that it is not only about espionage but also about the infiltration of the Austrian political system and the weakening of the country's internal security," he said.

Austria, which was located next to the Iron Curtain during the Cold War and long had good connections with Moscow, is a European Union member with a policy of military neutrality — and a longstanding reputation as a spying center.

UNRAVELING THE SPIDER'S WEB

Ott, a former police officer, was an intelligence officer in Turkey and Italy from 2001 to 2012 before moving on to manage undercover agents at Austria's now-defunct domestic intelligence agency, the BVT.

He was suspended from the BVT in 2017 when allegations emerged for the first time that he could be spying for Russia, but reassigned the following year to work for the Austrian police academy. In 2021, he was suspended pending further investigation into his alleged ties to Russia and taken into custody. Authorities concluded the evidence was too thin and released him about four weeks later.

At the BVT, Ott served under Martin Weiss, the former chief of Austrian intelligence operations. Prosecutors alleged that Ott and Weiss have a "close friendship." In the arrest warrant, they say that Weiss began to work for Marsalek and Wirecard after leaving the intelligence agency in 2018, and that he passed orders from Marsalek and Russian operatives to Ott. According to the arrest warrant, Marsalek said in a text message that he helped "evacuate" Weiss to Dubai.

Ott's lawyer declined to comment, saying he had only recently taken over Ott's defense. Ott has previously denied the espionage allegations and any wrongdoing.

Marsalek, 44, appears to be "the spider in the web" who is "pulling the strings," Riegler said. There was no immediate response to an email seeking comment from Marsalek's lawyer.

DISSIDENTS, SPIES AND DATABASES

Between 2017 and 2021, the Austrian warrant says, Ott collected sensitive information on people of interest to Russia "for the purpose of transmission to Jan Marsalek and to unknown representatives of Russian authorities" by conducting numerous searches in national police databases and making requests to other European police officers, including in Italy and Britain.

Ott also allegedly requested data from the information system of Europe's border-free travel area to ascertain whether suspected Russian operatives and former Wirecard employees were wanted or subject to travel restrictions.

The warrant contains a long list of people who were spied on, including Russian dissidents, businesspeople and a former officer who had quit the FSB.

A BURGLARY, SOAKED CELLPHONES AND LESSONS LEARNED

While allegations that Ott sought information for Russia first surfaced in 2017, British intelligence recently provided Austria with significant new information.

Five Bulgarian citizens who allegedly worked as part of a network with Marsalek were arrested last year in Britain and another in February. According to the Ott arrest warrant, chat messages between Marsalek and one of the suspects in that case, Orlin Roussev, that were seized by Britain's MI5 intelligence agency point to further operations by Marsalek and his Austrian helpers.

Just five weeks after Ott was released from custody in 2021, prosecutors say he requested the address of Bulgarian investigative journalist Christo Grozev in Vienna and supplied it to Marsalek. They say Marsalek later commissioned a team to break into Grozev's apartment and steal a laptop and USB stick.

Grozev, who tracked down Russian officers allegedly involved in the poisoning of former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal in 2018 and Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in 2020, relocated from Vienna last year after Austrian authorities told him they could no longer guarantee his security.

Ott also allegedly got hold of the cellphones of three former high-ranking Austrian Interior Ministry officials, including a former minister's chief of staff, when they were supposed to be repaired by BVT IT specialists after falling into the water during a boat excursion on the Danube in 2017.

Prosecutors say the phones were given to an unknown agent working for Marsalek at the Vienna apartment of Ott's former son-in-law and "transferred to Moscow for further analysis." They say the phones contained "sensitive official and private data."

Ott also allegedly helped Marsalek smuggle a stolen SINA computer, a device used by many European governments for transmitting classified information, to Moscow. After a handover at the same Vienna apartment, Marsalek wrote in a message that the device was successfully transported to the Lubyanka — where the FSB has its headquarters in Moscow — according to prosecutors.

Investigators also found a lessons-learned analysis on Ott's mobile phone that contained "suggestions for improvement" for Russian intelligence operations in Europe following the 2019 killing in Berlin of a Georgian citizen of Chechen ethnicity. A Russian man was caught and convicted in that case; German judges said he acted on the orders of Russian authorities.

WHAT IS AUSTRIA DOING NOW?

Ott remains in custody awaiting a decision on whether he will be officially charged, a process that will likely take a while.

However, the case has dominated the news headlines, with the various political parties blaming each other for the failure to stop Ott earlier.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer has convened a meeting of the National Security Council for Tuesday and said the country needs to boost its security to thwart Russian infiltration.

His justice minister said she plans to tighten the country's laws on espionage, which currently is explicitly banned if directed against Austria itself but not if it targets other countries or the many international organizations Vienna hosts.

So yeah. Parties are accusing each other of being at fault. Ott had claimed to be in the SPÖ in the past. Meanwhile, the ministry of interior (to which BVT belonged) has been under ÖVP/FPÖ since forever. There's new documents about FPÖ people supposedly receiving funding from Russia etc.

"Funnily", espionage has a weird legal standing in Austria. It's only illegal if aimed at Austria. If e.g. Americans spy on Russians it's legal as long as no other laws are broken (and I'm sure it gets complicated by the legal status of embassy grounds or the UN technically being not part of Austria's state territory etc.). Which, considering the amount of international institutions in Vienna (OSCE, IAEA and other UN agencies, OPEC ... ) seems kind of pragmatic ("Hey, whatever, just leave us out of it!") but ethically scummy.

[The Brain]

"Funnily", espionage has a weird legal standing in Austria. It's only illegal if aimed at Austria. If e.g. Americans spy on Russians it's legal as long as no other laws are broken (and I'm sure it gets complicated by the legal status of embassy grounds or the UN technically being not part of Austria's state territory etc.). Which, considering the amount of international institutions in Vienna (OSCE, IAEA and other UN agencies, OPEC ... ) seems kind of pragmatic ("Hey, whatever, just leave us out of it!") but ethically scummy.

It's the same in Sweden. Espionage exists only against Sweden (espionage) or against foreign assets that Sweden is handling under agreement (foreign espionage). Which I think makes sense.

[Syt]

Not sure about that, but I think Austria simply wouldn't have the budget to meddle with all the intelligence business going on in Vienna and the institutions here.

[The Brain]

Sweden is not in a position to say which secrets foreign powers have in Sweden (certainly not officially) and I would guess that foreign powers don't want those secrets in Swedish courts. This combined with the fact that there are some powers that Sweden is happy with people spying on makes a hands-off approach attractive.

[Josquius]

"Funnily", espionage has a weird legal standing in Austria. It's only illegal if aimed at Austria. If e.g. Americans spy on Russians it's legal as long as no other laws are broken (and I'm sure it gets complicated by the legal status of embassy grounds or the UN technically being not part of Austria's state territory etc.). Which, considering the amount of international institutions in Vienna (OSCE, IAEA and other UN agencies, OPEC ... ) seems kind of pragmatic ("Hey, whatever, just leave us out of it!") but ethically scummy.

It's the same in Sweden. Espionage exists only against Sweden (espionage) or against foreign assets that Sweden is handling under agreement (foreign espionage). Which I think makes sense.

Surely that needs to change with NATO? Any word on it?

[The Brain]

"Funnily", espionage has a weird legal standing in Austria. It's only illegal if aimed at Austria. If e.g. Americans spy on Russians it's legal as long as no other laws are broken (and I'm sure it gets complicated by the legal status of embassy grounds or the UN technically being not part of Austria's state territory etc.). Which, considering the amount of international institutions in Vienna (OSCE, IAEA and other UN agencies, OPEC ... ) seems kind of pragmatic ("Hey, whatever, just leave us out of it!") but ethically scummy.

It's the same in Sweden. Espionage exists only against Sweden (espionage) or against foreign assets that Sweden is handling under agreement (foreign espionage). Which I think makes sense.

Surely that needs to change with NATO? Any word on it?

Why would it? My guess is NATO wants to keep spying on Russian assets in Sweden.

[The Minsky Moment]

This is a bit of a dog bites man story as I believe it has been widely assumed that in the present and since Cold War days that Austria is completely penetrated by Soviet/Russian intelligence.  Of course the open revelation still may have domestic political impact.

The history nerd is me is amused by the name Ott appearing in this context of Russians spying on Germanic speaking types - see career of Richard Sorge.

[The Minsky Moment]

Not sure about that, but I think Austria simply wouldn't have the budget to meddle with all the intelligence business going on in Vienna and the institutions here.

I'm not sure how much of a budget issue it is.  I suppose if the state had to replace all the Russian bribe money it could get rather costly.

[Sheilbh]

This is a bit of a dog bites man story as I believe it has been widely assumed that in the present and since Cold War days that Austria is completely penetrated by Soviet/Russian intelligence.  Of course the open revelation still may have domestic political impact.

The history nerd is me is amused by the name Ott appearing in this context of Russians spying on Germanic speaking types - see career of Richard Sorge.

Yeah - I remember reading an article that EU security boss basically don't have real conversations when the Austrians are in the room because the assumption is they're so riddled with Russian intelligence, including Austria's security agencies.

Although no idea on legality of espionage in other countries. I feel like it's very rare you have prosecutions and it's normally a national spying on your country. I suspect otherwise it's spying on who is spying on each other in your territory and maybe trying to turn them.

Strange that Austria has this reputation (and has since 1945) while, say, Sweden hasn't. I suspect it says more about the robustness of their respective intelligence services more than the legal position or law enforcement.

[The Brain]

This is a bit of a dog bites man story as I believe it has been widely assumed that in the present and since Cold War days that Austria is completely penetrated by Soviet/Russian intelligence.  Of course the open revelation still may have domestic political impact.

The history nerd is me is amused by the name Ott appearing in this context of Russians spying on Germanic speaking types - see career of Richard Sorge.

Yeah - I remember reading an article that EU security boss basically don't have real conversations when the Austrians are in the room because the assumption is they're so riddled with Russian intelligence, including Austria's security agencies.

Although no idea on legality of espionage in other countries. I feel like it's very rare you have prosecutions and it's normally a national spying on your country. I suspect otherwise it's spying on who is spying on each other in your territory and maybe trying to turn them.

Strange that Austria has this reputation (and has since 1945) while, say, Sweden hasn't. I suspect it says more about the robustness of their respective intelligence services more than the legal position or law enforcement.

Why would Swedish security agencies be riddled with Russian intelligence? I can think of several theoretical reasons, but the legality of spying on other countries isn't one of them. Swedish security agencies would be pretty fucked if they weren't allowed to do that.

[Josquius]

"Funnily", espionage has a weird legal standing in Austria. It's only illegal if aimed at Austria. If e.g. Americans spy on Russians it's legal as long as no other laws are broken (and I'm sure it gets complicated by the legal status of embassy grounds or the UN technically being not part of Austria's state territory etc.). Which, considering the amount of international institutions in Vienna (OSCE, IAEA and other UN agencies, OPEC ... ) seems kind of pragmatic ("Hey, whatever, just leave us out of it!") but ethically scummy.

It's the same in Sweden. Espionage exists only against Sweden (espionage) or against foreign assets that Sweden is handling under agreement (foreign espionage). Which I think makes sense.

Surely that needs to change with NATO? Any word on it?

Why would it? My guess is NATO wants to keep spying on Russian assets in Sweden.

Sure. But Russia spying on the US in Sweden is now Russia spying on an ally.

[The Brain]

"Funnily", espionage has a weird legal standing in Austria. It's only illegal if aimed at Austria. If e.g. Americans spy on Russians it's legal as long as no other laws are broken (and I'm sure it gets complicated by the legal status of embassy grounds or the UN technically being not part of Austria's state territory etc.). Which, considering the amount of international institutions in Vienna (OSCE, IAEA and other UN agencies, OPEC ... ) seems kind of pragmatic ("Hey, whatever, just leave us out of it!") but ethically scummy.

It's the same in Sweden. Espionage exists only against Sweden (espionage) or against foreign assets that Sweden is handling under agreement (foreign espionage). Which I think makes sense.

Surely that needs to change with NATO? Any word on it?

Why would it? My guess is NATO wants to keep spying on Russian assets in Sweden.

Sure. But Russia spying on the US in Sweden is now Russia spying on an ally.

If the US feels the need they can (maybe they have? I don't know) establish a protective security agreement with Sweden that covers this, making Russian hijinks foreign espionage as above.

[Sheilbh]

Why would Swedish security agencies be riddled with Russian intelligence? I can think of several theoretical reasons, but the legality of spying on other countries isn't one of them. Swedish security agencies would be pretty fucked if they weren't allowed to do that.

Sorry I meant the opposite.

From what I've read there's serious concerns about penetration of Austrian politics and the state (including intelligence agencies) by Russian intelligence. I've never heard similar concerns about Sweden.

In terms of lots of spying in a country - since 1945, Austria has had a reputation as a place where that happens, in a way Sweden hasn't. I think those are probably linked because law enforcement and legality is less relevant (as so often, the law doesn't really matter ), what I suspect matters more is that the Swedish intelligence agencies are more effective than the Austrian ones, in part because they're not penetrated by Russian intelligence.

There is spying everywhere. I think there's probably jurisdictions were the domestic intelligence agency monitor and police it tightly and try to crack down (from what I've read I'd guess Sweden's probably in that camp), there's probably areas that tolerate it in order to use it for their own purposes (eg I think the UK had that attitude in Hong Kong) and there's areas that where the intelligence agencies are, for whatever reason, ineffective at policing it (I think Austria's in this camp).

[The Brain]

Why would Swedish security agencies be riddled with Russian intelligence? I can think of several theoretical reasons, but the legality of spying on other countries isn't one of them. Swedish security agencies would be pretty fucked if they weren't allowed to do that.

Sorry I meant the opposite.

From what I've read there's serious concerns about penetration of Austrian politics and the state (including intelligence agencies) by Russian intelligence. I've never heard similar concerns about Sweden.

Yes, and I was just curious why you found that strange. I could have been clearer.

[Sheilbh]

Fair.

Thinking about it I don't find it that strange. I think both countries were historically neutral but from what I've read Sweden had quite a strong defensive policy in the Cold War and espionage would just be another part of that.