VIENNA, May 4 (Reuters) - Austria declared three Russian diplomats personae non gratae over an "antenna forest" on the roofs of diplomatic buildings that could be used for spying, the government said on Monday.
Numerous satellite dishes placed on buildings used by the Russian state in Vienna, particularly a residential complex for diplomatic staff, have long attracted the attention of Austria's main domestic intelligence service, which has warned for years they could be used to intercept other states' satellite communications.
"It is unacceptable that diplomatic immunity be used to commit espionage," Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger said in a statement confirming that the three diplomats had already left the country. It brings to 14 the number of Russian diplomats Austria has expelled since 2020.
The Russian embassy in Vienna posted a statement on its website saying the expelled diplomats were from the embassy and Russia's mission to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and that Moscow would react harshly to Austria's decision, which was "justified by nothing".
Asked at a press conference why the installations posed a particular threat, Sylvia Mayer, head of the main domestic intelligence service, the Directorate for State Security and Intelligence, said only it had to do with their size and nature, and did not comment on the timing of the expulsions.
Vienna is a major diplomatic centre, hosting the OSCE and United Nations organisations such as the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Larger countries like Russia and the United States often have separate ambassadors to Austria, the OSCE and U.N. organisations, each running an embassy or mission.
Vienna, which was divided into Allied sectors after World War Two, has long had a reputation as a den of spies. The large diplomatic presence offers the opportunity to station intelligence agents there under cover of diplomatic immunity.
(Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne, Aidan Lewis)
