[1] Austria's role in espionage, particularly as a base for Russian intelligence operations, has been noted by several media outlets.
"[4] According to New Statesman, "Russian diplomatic presence in Vienna is abnormally large and its enormous permanent mission to the United Nations is, experts believe, a hub of intelligence activity".
[5] According to The Washington Post, there has been a "revolving door [...] between the highest ranks of the Austrian government and major Russian state companies".
Additionally, former foreign minister Karin Kneissl joined Rosneft, as well as began writing for RT as an opinion columnist.
[8] According to Chris Miller, professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, the "Austrian and Hungarian governments are notorious for their open-door attitude toward Russian agents".
[3][4] NBC reported in 2018 that the pro-Russian Freedom Party's control of intelligence services "led to fears that Western secrets aren't safe any more" in Austria.
[6] In June 2020, a retired member of the Austrian military was sentenced to three years in prison after being found guilty of spying for Russian authorities.
[11] In 2021, Austrian diplomat Johannes Peterlik came under investigation for leaking confidential documents related to the Skripal poisonings.
Die Presse and Der Standard stated Peterlik is suspected of giving classified documents to a former Austrian secret agent accused of spying for Russia.
[11] Christo Grozev, formerly of Bellingcat, has claimed that while doing investigations in Austria, he was surveilled by Austrian intelligence at the explicit order of Russia.
[12] The Ott case has become emblematic of "Russia's deep penetration of European Union member Austria in politics and industry as well as the intelligence field", according to The Washington Post.
[2] Former Austrian intelligence officer and undercover agent handler Egisto Ott is suspected of selling state secrets to Russia, as well as giving information on Kremlin enemies in the West.
Weiss has admitted passing on requests for searches into personal data and background information, which he would submit to Ott on behalf of Marsalek.
In November that year, according to Die Presse, American officials threatened to withdraw from a security conference in the Netherlands if Ott attended.
Despite this, Ott was transferred to a police academy, where he is accused of having requested hundreds of illegal searches in personal information databases, including on Bellingcat director Christo Grozev, who told The Washington Post that authorities had concluded it was done on behalf of Russia.
[5] After the invasion, OMV announced an inquiry into Rainer Seele's tenure, a German national, looking into contracts said to have made Austria dependent on Russian gas.
Austria had been a major investor in Nord Stream 2, initially resisting scrapping the project in the wake of the Russian invasion.
Less than two weeks after OMV announcing an investigation, Gazprom informed they would cut the volume of gas delivered to Austria.