<
https://www.politico.eu/article/vladimir-putin-austria-spy-service-bvt-government-intelligence-wirecard-jan-marsalek-freedom-party/>
"VIENNA — The coup began with the sound of a doorbell.
Just after 8 a.m. on Feb. 28, 2018, Austrian police Commander Wolfgang
Preiszler pressed the buzzer at the headquarters of the country’s domestic
intelligence service and held his ID up to the security camera.
Within minutes, dozens of his colleagues armed with Glock pistols and a
battering ram fanned out through the building in bullet-proof vests and
balaclavas, seizing confidential data stored on the agency’s servers and
sensitive documents lying on desks.
The incursion — pitting the police against the spy service, known as the BVT —
unleashed a firestorm that shattered Austria’s reputation in the intelligence
world and led to the agency’s closure.
More than six years later, the true scope of what transpired that day is only
now coming into focus. Intelligence officials tell
POLITICO that new evidence
suggests the raid was part of a Moscow-led operation to discredit Austria’s spy
services in order to rebuild them with new leadership under the Kremlin’s
influence. Crucial to that effort, they say, was the junior partner in the
government coalition at the time: the far-right, pro-Russia Freedom Party
(FPÖ), which today is the most popular party in the country.
Last month, Austrian prosecutors revealed that the men believed to have laid
the groundwork for the action were Russian agents directed by Jan Marsalek, the
fugitive former chief operating officer of the collapsed payment processing
firm Wirecard, who authorities say works for Russia’s GRU military intelligence
agency."
Via Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
