Vienna is often described as a "den of Russian spies."
The Austrian prosecutor's office has opened a criminal case against a diplomat suspected of leaking confidential documents related to the nerve agent 'Novichok' and the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal in the UK.
Charges against diplomat Johannes Peterlik were filed "under the article on abuse of office and violation of official secrecy," the prosecutor's office said in an official press release. According to the investigation, this official requested a classified report in 2018 that contained the formula for the Soviet nerve agent 'Novichok'.
The document also contained information about the poisoning of Sergei Skripal, which occurred in March 2018, for which the UK blames Russia. At that time, Peterlik held the position of Secretary General of the Austrian Foreign Ministry, which was then headed by Karin Kneissl, appointed from the far-right FPÖ party.
Peterlik is suspected of showing the report to former Austrian intelligence agent Egisto Ott, who is accused of espionage for Russia. Austrian authorities received this document from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), based in the Netherlands.
If the diplomat is found guilty, he faces up to five years in prison. At the time the case was opened, he was serving as Austria's ambassador to Indonesia but was suspended from his position in 2021 when the investigation began.
The investigation was initially launched as part of a high-profile German scandal involving Wirecard. The company's operations chief, Austrian Jan Marsalek, allegedly tried to impress business partners by showing them OPCW files, the origin of which was traced to an Austrian barcode.
Since then, Jan Marsalek has been hiding in Russia, where, according to an international journalistic investigation published in 2025, he is cooperating with the FSB.
In recent years, a series of espionage scandals have undermined Austria's reputation in the eyes of NATO countries. Although Austria is a neutral state and a member of the EU, Vienna is often described as a "den of Russian spies" due to the large number of international organizations and liberal intelligence laws.
At the end of August, the prosecutor's office already reported filing a lawsuit against Egisto Ott on charges of espionage for Moscow. He rejected all allegations in a comment to AFP.
Leave a comment