Austria’s Chancellor has confirmed that the retired colonel in the Austrian army reportedly was having spied for Russia over decades, The Local Austria reported.
Austria’s foreign minister Karin Kneissl has summoned the Russian charge d’affaires over the matter and cancelled an upcoming trip to Russia, Chancellor Kurz said on Friday, during the press conference. He added that the retired colonel is under suspicion due to his links with Russian intelligence service. The colonel reportedly has begun working with Russians in the 1990s and carried on until 2018. However, his mission was abrupted because of his retirement.
Austrian Defence Minister Mario Kunasek told the press conference that the case came to light “a few weeks ago” as a result of information from another European intelligence agency.
“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,” Sebastian Kurz said.
On the wave of the worsening the relationships od Russia and West, the incident with retired colonel spy got the scandalous tone. Mr Kurz even 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.
“Russian spying in Europe is unacceptable and to be condemned,” Austria’s Chancellor added.
