Yesterday, today, tomorrow: Vienna has never changed, it has remained a city of spies. And sometimes not even the protagonists have changed, the men from Moscow are looking for information. But they are certainly not the only actors in what has always been “shadow theatre”.
In the mid-1970s, Andrew Daulton Lee, known as “the snowman”, arrives from the USA in the Austrian capital, where KGB envoys will give him a short course in the art of espionage. Tactics for his “Mole” mission with his friend Chris Boyce, a Californian couple who sold the satellites’ secrets to the USSR.
During the Cold War, the struggle becomes even harder, the country is the dividing line between the two blocs, it is a country of exchanges and blows. Twenty years later, more scenes: In the summer of 1989, the leader of the Iranian Kurds, Abdel Rahman Ghassemlou, was murdered again in Vienna, an attack that was attributed to Tehran. And then came the hunt for the Kremlin’s exiled enemies, especially the Chechens. Hence the steps of agents from the Middle East, USA, Israel and anyone with a job to do.
The episodes of the past are reflected in the present, revived by an article in the Financial Times devoted to the challenge between secret services in the Vienna Arena. And again the Russians are being talked about in alarming terms. Austria is defined as the “aircraft carrier” from which the missions of the Moscow invaders start. And one of the starting places is the embassy, which has 180 accredited officers: according to sources cited by the newspaper, at least a third are dedicated to espionage and work undercover. Surely there will be illegal immigrants out there, disguised as citizens of other nationalities, as entrepreneurs hiding behind unsuspecting professions.
In addition to the human factor, there is also technology. A forest of antennas and other devices on the roofs of Russian diplomatic buildings enables the collection of “electronic” data, which is the starting point for wiretapping measures. There is much whispering, the city is home to many international institutions, it is a destination for high-level meetings, it is a hub for official delegations. We talk about oil, politics, Iranian nuclear power, big East-West plans. So many dossiers, so many spies, so many interesting indiscretions for the Kremlin, the White House, London, Jerusalem, Tehran or Beijing.
To make the task easier, critics point out that the contrast measures are too mild. Internal security is only relevant when the threat is aimed at Austria, since it is linked to concrete ties: For this reason, the three largest opposition parties supported reforms to criminalize espionage in the spring, but so far without success. And that’s proving to be an advantage for those looking to use the space for operations in the rest of Europe. The agent can call a source resident in Holland or Germany to Vienna without – theoretically – taking too many risks.
Austrian neutrality helps, as does Swiss neutrality, and indeed Geneva isn’t the 007’s other “paradise” by accident. A number explains it. After the invasion of Ukraine, the West expelled almost 400 Russians for incompatible activities, Austria threw out only four.