"Security risk"

Wirecard lobbyist gained access to the most secret files

In February 2019, the then Minister of the Interior Herbert Kickl (FPÖ) welcomed Klaus-Dieter Fritsche as a new expert in the ministry.

(Bild: BMI/Alexander Tuma)

Documents from the U Committee show: A lobbyist for the notorious payment provider Wirecard was given access to all of the Republic's files under Interior Minister Herbert Kickl (FPÖ) - the former CSU politician is now being summoned to give evidence. The latest revelations surrounding the fugitive Wirecard manager Jan Marsalek, who is suspected of spying for Russia, have given the case new urgency.

Early 2019: the turquoise-blue government has not yet collapsed, Kickl is still firmly in the saddle and the raid on the BVT secret service was less than a year ago. CSU politician Klaus-Dieter Fritsche, German intelligence coordinator from 2014 to 2018 and now retired, has been hired by the Ministry of the Interior as a consultant. He is to help reform the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism (BVT).

Interior Minister Herbert Kickl (FPÖ) welcomes Klaus-Dieter Fritsche as a new expert in the ministry.

(Bild: BMI/Alexander Tuma)

"Top secret security review"
As part of his contract, which will be signed at the beginning of February, regular train journeys and hotels will be organized for Fritsche - and he will be given an office directly in the BVT, as emails obtained by krone.at reveal. In addition, the "top secret security clearance form" was to be sent to Fritsche, wrote the then Secretary General Peter Goldgruber to an official. Top secret is the highest of a total of four security levels in Austria. In the U Committee, for example, documents of levels one and two are usually dealt with.

Former Secretary General Goldgruber was due to testify on the case on Wednesday.

(Bild: APA/ROLAND SCHLAGER)

Lobbyist for Wirecard from June 2019
The external consultant was therefore given access to all - even the most secret - files of the Republic of Austria. At the time, however, Fritsche was not only the former German state secretary, but also a lobbyist for the notorious financial services provider Wirecard. In September 2019, when his contract with the Ministry of the Interior was still running, a meeting organized by Fritsche took place at which he and a Wirecard manager officially informed Merkel's economic advisors about Wirecard's business in the Far East. Fritsche had to answer questions at the German committee of inquiry into the Wirecard complex. There he stated that he had only held talks with Wirecard from May 2019, which were "concretized" from June - i.e. only after Kickl's term of office. FPÖ politician Christian Hafenecker also emphasized to krone.at that "lobbying is not punishable".

"No doubts about trustworthiness"
Back in 2020, Green politician David Stögmüller asked about the contract with Fritsche. The contract was terminated in November 2019 and the former secret service coordinator received a total fee of around 72,000 euros, as can be seen from the response from the then Minister of the Interior Karl Nehammer (ÖVP). As far as the security check was concerned, "there were no indications of circumstances that would have cast doubt on Mr. Fritsche's trustworthiness", it continued.

The Wirecard lobbyist's access to secret files is highly questionable in light of the latest revelations about Jan Marsalek from Vienna. The fugitive ex-banker is apparently now living in Russia with the identity of a priest - and is suspected of having spied for the Kremlin. According to Austrian investigators, two former BVT officials are said to have leaked secrets on Marsalek's behalf and thus sabotaged the secret service. In Germany, a connection between Wirecard players and the Federal Intelligence Service was also suspected.

"FPÖ endangers Austria's security"
NEOS parliamentary group leader Yannick Shetty addressed the matter at the start of the U Committee on "Red-Blue Abuse of Power". Such a release to an external consultant, who is not even an Austrian citizen, is an "extremely high security risk", explained Shetty. "The FPÖ is not a party of neutrality, it endangers Austria's security," he directed sharp criticism towards the Freedom Party.

The members of the U Committee wanted to question Kickl's former Secretary General Goldgruber about this on Wednesday. However, he refused to make any statements during his questioning. At the request of Shetty, Klaus-Dieter Fritsche himself was now also summoned to the U-Committee to give evidence.