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Austria to continue dialogue with Russia — chancellor

The Austrian authorities are investigating a 70-year-old retired army colonel who has allegedly transferred information to Russia’s military intelligence since the 1990s

VIENNA, November 13. /TASS/. Vienna wants to continue dialogue with Russia but believes espionage to be unacceptable, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said following a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

"We have a clear view on this matter and a clear view on Russia. We want to maintain dialogue but we know what happened in the Netherlands and Great Britain, we expressed solidarity with our European partners. If espionage activities are taking place on our territory, regardless of what country is involved, we consider it to be unacceptable and will combat it," Kurz said.

"We gave a clear response to that and informed our European partners about it. It will not improve relations between the European Union and Russia. We are confident that it is important to have channels for dialogue with Russia and we also believe that it is possible to ensure lasting peace on the continent only in cooperation with Russia and not in confrontation with it," the Austrian chancellor noted.

Venna did the right thing by informing the public about the investigation, he said. According to Kurz, although the allegations have not been proved yet and there is no court decision, the Austrian government made a statement based on the evidence it had, which the judicial bodies will now have to study. "In my opinion, it was right to inform the public about it and tell Russia that we do not accept it [espionage activities]," Kurz said.

He pointed out that the Austrian military had specific suspicions that the retired colonel had been providing classified information to Russia, so the country’s government could not keep silent and pretend that it was not concerned about the issue. "Here is my opinion: nothing has been proved yet so there is no verdict, but believe me, we thoroughly discussed this issue because some pieces of evidence had been seized, there had been [money] transfers. Judicial bodies are now dealing with the matter as it should be in a state governed by the rule of law," Kurz added.

Espionage allegations

On November 9, the Austrian authorities said they had opened an investigation into a 70-year-old retired colonel, suspected of working for Russian intelligence agencies since the 1990s, providing Moscow with information about Austria’s air force, artillery and the migration crisis. If found guilty, the colonel may face two years in prison.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Defense Minister Mario Kunasek later confirmed the espionage investigation.

According to the Salzburg prosecution, following a series of questionings, investigators came to the conclusion that the retired colonel was to be charged under two articles of the Austrian Criminal Code, which concern inflicting damage on Austria by working for another country’s intelligence agency and disclosing state secrets, as well as under a military criminal law related to the deliberate disclosure of military secrets.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pointed out he was unpleasantly surprised at Vienna’s failure to ask Moscow to shed some light on those allegations.

Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, in turn, cautioned against dramatizing the situation and called on everyone to wait for the investigation’s results. In addition, he expressed surprise at the government’s move to inform the public about the suspicions of espionage. The president was also confident that the espionage incident would not seriously harm Austrian-Russian relations in the long run.