Since the beginning of the year, Sylvia Mayer has headed Austria’s Directorate for State Security and Intelligence (DSN). In an interview with the Austria Press Agency (APA), she emphasized: “The greatest espionage threat clearly comes from Russia.” She also identified sabotage, cyberattacks, and attempts by other states to influence Austria as major risks. Regarding former domestic intelligence officer Egisto Ott, who is due to stand trial for suspected espionage starting Thursday, Mayer said she hopes for “appropriate sanctions.”
Vienna has been considered a hub for espionage since the end of World War II. Particular attention is paid to parts of the roughly 13,000 diplomats working in the federal capital. “Internationally, it is assumed that in the case of certain states, more than 20 percent of them are intelligence officers,” Mayer said. The proportion is higher for countries such as Russia and lower for others. Spies are also believed to operate within organizations governed by international law and international institutions.
Russia’s prominence in this context has several reasons. One is the war of aggression against Ukraine that began in 2014 and intensified in 2022. Since then, Russia has sought to pursue its interests related to Ukraine within the European Union as well. “That affects us directly, as espionage activity has intensified,” Mayer warned. This includes influence operations and disinformation campaigns in Austria, as well as an increased threat level for cyberattacks or sabotage. Russia, she said, is attempting to reduce public support in Europe for Ukraine through false information. “Russia has an interest in destabilizing the sense of security in Austria and also in polarizing the population,” which is why conspiracy narratives are deliberately spread, sometimes overlapping with far-right narratives.
Espionage Rarely Reaches the Courts
Despite Vienna’s history, few espionage cases end up before Austrian courts. According to an APA inquiry to the Ministry of Justice, there was one conviction each in 2004, 2020, and 2021, and three in 2024. Mayer attributed this to the narrow definition of the relevant criminal offense under Section 256 of the Criminal Code. “In the case of spies, for example from Russia, there must be concrete proof that the espionage caused a significant disadvantage to the Republic of Austria,” she said. The offense needs to be expanded and reworded so that “the activities of state actors, such as Russia, can be better covered.”
A corresponding amendment—making espionage punishable even if it harms not Austria itself but other states or institutions—is included in the government program of the ÖVP, SPÖ, and NEOS. For Mayer, however, this does not go far enough. She also wants surveillance or influence operations to be punishable if they are linked to intelligence activities by third parties. “In recent years, we have seen surveillance of individual persons,” Mayer said, referring to an investigation by the Vienna public prosecutor’s office against a Bulgarian woman living in Austria who allegedly spied not only on journalists and politicians but also on Mayer’s predecessor, Omar Haijawi-Pirchner. It remains unclear whether the woman’s actions fall under Section 256 of the Criminal Code in its current form.
In addition to diplomats, assignments are also allegedly carried out on behalf of Russian intelligence by so-called “proxy actors,” meaning individuals operating within Austria. “These are cells that are formed and then carry out surveillance, for example,” Mayer said. Such actions are currently barely punishable under criminal law. “Certain states make use of organized crime and other individuals to carry out such activities.”
Trial of Former Intelligence Officer Begins Thursday
The former domestic intelligence officer Egisto Ott will indeed face court proceedings starting Thursday on suspicion of espionage. The former chief inspector of the now-defunct Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism (BVT) is accused of collecting personal data from police databases for transmission to former Wirecard executive Jan Marsalek and representatives of Russian intelligence services. Ott is alleged to have gathered data such as locations, vehicle license plates, and travel movements of individuals without official authorization and in their interest. “The investigating authorities carried out extensive investigations that substantiated the suspicions,” Mayer said. While she did not want to prejudge the court’s decision, she added: “I do hope for appropriate sanctions.”
