"ÖVP fairy tale"

Egisto Ott case: SPÖ and FPÖ attack Karner

(Bild: APA/GEORG HOCHMUTH)

Following the arrest of former constitution protector Egisto Ott on suspicion of espionage on Friday a week ago, domestic political tensions have been running high ever since. While the SPÖ and FPÖ are targeting Interior Minister Gerhard Karner, the latter promises "complete clarification". 

"The investigations are in full swing, the arrest took place a few days ago. Obviously there was a great deal of criminal energy behind it, and there are still many areas that need to be clarified," said Karner on Saturday on Ö1's "Mittagsjournal" program about the events surrounding Ott.

The arrest was the result of chat histories seized by British law enforcement authorities between the fugitive ex-Wirecard board member Jan Marsalek, who is believed to have gone into hiding with the help of Moscow, and a Russian spy who has since been arrested in the UK.

Egisto Ott is in custody (symbolic image). His espionage activities for Russia were uncovered through chats.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com, youtube.com, Krone KREATIV)

Incriminating chats
These chats incriminate Ott and his former superior, the then head of the espionage department at the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism (BVT), Martin Weiss, who has since moved to Dubai.

The chats show that Ott "systematically" provided the Russian secret service with secret, strictly confidential facts and findings from the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution as well as personal data from police databases, as the arrest warrant states.

The fact is that there was an unlawful raid on the BVT, and the fact is that there was a single party that had a friendship treaty with Russia.

Innenminister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP)

Bild: APA/Georg Hochmuth

When asked about the suspicion that Russia could be behind the raid at the Federal Office for State Protection and Counterterrorism (BVT) (which has since been dissolved and replaced by the DNA) on February 28, 2018, Karner said that there were several suspicious circumstances and that the public prosecutor's office was in control of the proceedings.

Where the rouble rolled: Information may have been exchanged for cash several times at the powerful Nittel-Hof in the north of Vienna. Officials are said to have removed files and data carriers from the apartment on a grand scale.

(Bild: Klemens Groh)

Karner: "Kickl has smashed the BVT"
"The fact is that there was an unlawful raid at the BVT, and the fact is that there was a single party that had a friendship treaty with Russia," he said, addressing the FPÖ, under whose then Interior Minister Herbert Kickl the house search at the BVT was carried out. Kickl had "smashed" the BVT, Karner criticized once again.

Interior Minister Karner identifies one of his predecessors in the Interior Ministry, FPÖ leader Kickl, as the main culprit.

(Bild: SEPA.Media | Martin Juen)

In view of the fact that Ott may have continued to gather information for Russia even after his suspension and even after his time in custody, Karner can also imagine changes to the disciplinary law for civil servants. "Considerations" could be made here.

SPÖ: "Nehammer supported the destruction of the BVT by Kickl"
Karner's statements were criticized by the SPÖ on Saturday: "The ÖVP is responsible for the catastrophic conditions under which the Marsalek network with Ott and Weiss was able to operate in the BVT. As Secretary General, Karl Nehammer supported the destruction of the BVT by Kickl and today Karner no longer wants to know anything about it", said SPÖ security spokesman Reinhold Einwallner. Einwallner issued a "clear rejection" of "surveillance plans" by Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Karner.

The ÖVP obviously can no longer think clearly. Now that an enormous security gap in the former intelligence service has become public, the first thing that comes to the ÖVP's mind is: we want to be able to look into Austrians' cell phones.

SPÖ-Sicherheitssprecher Reinhold Einwallner

The ÖVP is thus making Kickl the "next offer" and wants to monitor Austrians again together with the FPÖ. "Kickl has shown with his destruction of the BVT - instigated by Ott and Weiss - that he is a massive security risk, but so is the ÖVP with its failure and its FPÖ ingratiation."

FPÖ takes aim at Karner
The FPÖ rejected the accusations in their direction: "The ÖVP is currently acting according to the well-known saying 'The thief cries out: Stop the thief!", said FPÖ security spokesman Hannes Amesbauer. The "ÖVP attempts" to shift their own responsibilities onto the Freedom Party are "implausible and transparent".

The Minister of the Interior cannot detach this scandal from himself and his party. The main suspect in this case made a career under ÖVP interior ministers and was apparently even able to carry on although the suspicion of espionage was already evident.

FPÖ-Sicherheitssprecher Hannes Amesbauer

The suspected links to the "Wirecard partners Marsalek and Braun" would also lead to the ÖVP. "In 2017, the former demonstrably dined with the then Interior Minister (Wolfgang, note) Sobotka in the Austrian embassy in Moscow, while the latter was a member of the 'Think Austria' advisory committee under Sebastian Kurz in the Chancellery."

"ÖVP fairy tale"
The "ÖVP fairy tale" about the dismantling of the BVT also needs to be cleared up once again: "For years, ÖVP interior ministers ran this authority down under their wing. Pretending that the whole problem started with a court-ordered house search is just another ridiculous attempt to get rid of their own mistakes."