Austria expels 3 Russian embassy staff members over suspected signals espionage
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Austria has expelled three staff members of the Russian embassy over suspected signals intelligence activities in the EU country's capital, Austrian public broadcaster ORF reported on May 3.
The move was linked to satellite dishes installed on Russian diplomatic buildings in Vienna, which Austrian intelligence says are used to intercept data from international organizations.
The three Russian officials have left Austria since then. The EU country has already expelled 14 Russian diplomats since the outbreak of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Moscow has long been suspected of running large-scale signals intelligence operations in Vienna, a city that hosts numerous international organizations, such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and U.N. institutions.
"It is unacceptable that diplomatic immunity be used to commit espionage," Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger said, according to Reuters.
The Russian Embassy in Vienna denounced the move as "outrageous."
"We regard this unfriendly step as purely politically motivated and categorically unacceptable," the Russian diplomatic mission said in a statement on social media.
European countries have expelled hundreds of Russian diplomats since the outbreak of the all-out war in Ukraine, often in connection with suspected espionage activities.
