International security

Austria's tilt toward Russia worries intelligence experts

The country's government appears to be drifting closer to Putin. With Vienna widely regarded as the spying capital of the world, that has serious implications for Washington and its allies.
One factor is at the heart of these concerns: the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) — which is openly supportive of Russia. "Austria is economically and politically integrated in the West, but the FPÖ is trying to play the card of being part of the East," says Gustav Gressel, a former desk officer at the Austrian Ministry of Defense. "If you have an East-West confrontation, you basically have parts of your enemy behind your own lines." Founded by former Nazis in the 1950s, the FPÖ has been a junior member of the country's coalition government since December. As part of that deal, it was given responsibility for Austria's defense and interior ministries, and with them the domestic and military intelligence services.