Austria declared three Russian diplomats personae non gratae over an “antenna forest” on the roofs of diplomatic buildings that could be used for spying, the government said on Monday.
Numerous satellite dishes placed on buildings used by the Russian state in Vienna, particularly a residential complex for diplomatic staff, have long attracted the attention of Austria’s main domestic intelligence service, which has warned for years they could be used to intercept other states’ satellite communications.
“It is unacceptable that diplomatic immunity be used to commit espionage,” Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger said in a statement confirming that the three diplomats had already left the country. It brings to 14 the number of Russian diplomats Austria has expelled since 2020.
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ORF described the three expelled Russians as embassy employees. The foreign ministry said it confirmed the ORF report, without going into specifics.
The Russian embassy in Vienna did not immediately respond to a request for comment but Russian news agency RIA quoted it as saying Moscow would react harshly to the decision.
Asked at a press conference why the installations posed a particular threat, Sylvia Mayer, head of the main domestic intelligence service, the Directorate for State Security and Intelligence, said only it had to do with their size and nature, and did not comment on the timing of the expulsions.