In the secret service thriller

Former BVT director settles accounts with agent Ott

In the secret service thriller, the former head of the intelligence service settles accounts with his former agent Egisto Ott in an interview with "Krone".

The "Krone" reached the long-serving former head of the highest state security authority (2008 to the end of 2020) on the phone. When asked about the latest developments, the retired top Tyrolean civil servant said he was "not surprised" shortly before his 67th birthday: "I wasn't surprised by the latest accusations. I already reported Mr. Ott in 2017 for intelligence activities to the detriment of the Republic of Austria and also suspended him."

Almost seven years later, the allegations made at the time have now been substantiated by the handover of three cell phones and a laptop with encrypted messages - apparently through the intermediary of Wirecard phantom Jan Marsalek - to Russian spies. The breakthrough in the investigation was finally achieved by chats between Marsalek and a Putin agent that were intercepted by the British secret service. The Carinthian ex-chief inspector, who is in custody under urgent suspicion of espionage due to the danger of committing a crime and concealment, was once reassigned to the "old" Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counter-Terrorism as a liaison officer and police attaché in Italy and Turkey.

Ott is also accused of being behind a revenge operation. He is considered to be the (co-)author of the anonymous 39-page pamphlet about the BVT, which led to a raid under Interior Minister Herbert Kickl in February 2018. The beginning of the end of the BVT. The judiciary is now also shedding light on Ott's good contacts in domestic politics, especially in the blue camp.

"Must be vigilant about who gets ministries"
In the book "Surprise Attack", Dr. Peter Gridling dealt with the elimination of the State Security Service. Even back then, the FPÖ's links to Putin's Russia were "extremely worrying". They had investigated "how Russia could finance them and offer them jobs". In an interview with the renowned Financial Times, the former intelligence chief also issued a warning: "We have to be very vigilant about who (editor's note) gets which ministries after the election. Wherever we have the FPÖ in government, we have to look at their intentions and activities."