Austria expels four Russian diplomats over spying suspicions

Austria declared four Russian diplomats persona non grata and ordered them to leave the country.

The decision was reported by the countryʼs Ministry of Foreign Affairs, APA reports.

These are three employees of the Russian Embassy in Vienna and one diplomat from the Russian delegation on military security and arms control to the OSCE.

The Austrian Foreign Ministry said that all four were engaged in activities that were “incompatible with their diplomatic status”. It did not specify what activities were involved.

At the same time, the publication Profil writes that Austrian intelligence services have long suspected these diplomats of espionage activities.

In August, the Austrian Ministry of Defense warned military personnel and reservists about possible attempts to contact them by alleged Russian agents. They were also sent a list of 21 people and asked to report suspicious contacts.

After that, the authorities received a number of reports, which the secret services began to check. As a result, suspicions about the three people on the list, as Profil writes, intensified so much that they decided to deport them.

• This is not the first such decision by Austria this year. In May, the country expelled three more Russians on suspicion of spying on diplomatic buildings.
• The Austrian capital is of particular importance to Russian intelligence, as it is home to the headquarters and offices of a number of international organizations, including the UN, OSCE, IAEA and OPEC.

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