Ott espionage case

FPÖ now also in favor of its own sub-committee in the Ott case

After the Greens and the NEOS had already called for a parliamentary sub-committee on the alleged espionage case surrounding Egisto Ott, the Freedom Party also spoke out in favor of this on Tuesday. All parliamentary groups should negotiate about setting up their own sub-committee, as the current one on the "red-blue abuse of power" was not suitable for this, but was purely an "election campaign show", said FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl.

"In the interest of actual clarification instead of an election campaign show, I therefore propose to all other parliamentary groups that are seriously interested in investigating the links between Austrian politics and Russia to enter into talks about a separate comprehensive committee in this matter and to reach a corresponding agreement for its establishment immediately after the start of the next legislative period," Kickl wrote in a press release.

Decades of entanglements
This would also require the maximum time possible within the framework of a sub-committee because, for example, the contacts with Russia in the area of energy supply had grown over decades and the economic ties between the Wirecard company and the Ministry of the Interior went back twenty years. Likewise, the influence of the Austrian-Russian Friendship Society on politics and the economy has already spanned almost 25 years, according to Kickl.

Egisto Ott(Bild: Patrick Huber, romanevgenev, Krone KREATIV)

Kickl wants a reappraisal "shortly after the National Council elections"
"Anyone who is honest about such a project must face up to their own past without reservation," says Kickl, who sees the responsibility as broadly spread. "We Freedom Party members are prepared to do this and expect the same from the other parties." The reappraisal should not degenerate into a mud-slinging exercise - and the timing just after the national elections is "ideal" for this - but should be subordinated to the goal of developing guidelines for dealing with foreign influence and, in particular, spying attempts and enabling those in positions of responsibility to expose these machinations more easily.

For Kickl, an essential aspect of this would be "proactive information work by the intelligence services, which I completely miss in connection with the current allegations".

Criticism from the SPÖ
Criticism came from the SPÖ, which found Kickl's call for a sub-committee on Russia after the elections "very funny". The investigation must begin now and not after the elections, said deputy leader Julia Herr at a press conference. The SPÖ is open to all control bodies, but an inquiry committee before the election will not be an option.

The chats of ex-FPÖ mandatary Hans-Jörg Jenewein that have become known would reveal "that it is not about individuals, but that there is a system behind it", said Herr. However, she also believes that the ÖVP, which led the Ministry of the Interior for years, is responsible: "The ÖVP and FPÖ have really made a mess of it."

The SPÖ rejects an expansion of surveillance powers using federal Trojans. It would be "really absurd" to give more powers to a secret service that has been infiltrated and from which information has flowed to Russia, argues Herr.