The arrest of a former Austrian intelligence officer on suspicion of spying for Russia has put a spotlight on Vienna as a spy nest in a new era of East-West confrontation.
The Austrian capital was long a hotbed of spy activity during the Cold War. And Chancellor Karl Nehammer last week urged heightened security, calling a National Security Council meeting on Tuesday to "assess and clarify the security situation" following the "serious accusations" against Egisto Ott.
Ott — a former intelligence service employee suspended in 2017 — was arrested on March 29 and accused of "systematically" providing information to the Russian secret services, according to information from the public prosecutor's office quoted by the APA press agency.