Explosive details

Johann Gudenus also involved in espionage affair

An old interrogation stirs up new dust in front of the U Committee and in the light of the espionage affair. In focus: Jan Marsalek, Johann Gudenus and their former intermediary.

The espionage affair continues to unfold. Just before the next day of questioning in the U Committee, an old document comes into focus again. A witness interview conducted in 2020 with Florian Stermann, the former Secretary General of the Austrian-Russian Friendship Society, reveals his close exchange with former FPÖ party chairman Johann Gudenus and the fugitive spy Marsalek.

Secretary General as a hub
The chats prove that Marsalek's contacts were not limited to Egisto Ott. Stermann, who had also invited Marsalek to the now widely publicized reception of the then Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka in Moscow, apparently had contacts deep within the FPÖ and is said to have acted as a hub and intermediary between the spy, the FPÖ, the Interior Ministry and also the BVT.

"It was clear that if Jan sent something, it always had to be forwarded to Gudenus," the witness statement reads. It is also about the allocation of a federal Trojan, but also about the dismissal of the then BVT director Peter Gridling, which - as the news suggests - could even have been indirectly ordered by Marsalek, and about the Russian oligarch niece known from the Ibiza scandal, whom Gudenus apparently had Stermann "query" specifically.

The result of the query was negative, but as is well known, it did not give Gudenus any cause for concern.

Opposition sees scandal
For the opposition, the scandal is perfect and the motto for the questioning in the U Committee over the next two days is clear. "Either Kickl was involved in passing on information to Russia, which would be a real scandal. Or he didn't know anything about it because he was distracted with his horse team and luxury kulis. In this case, he is a bad choice for a security ministry. We will demand full clarification in the U-committee," says Yannick Shetty, pink group leader in both committees. 

Either Kickl was involved in passing on information in Russia, which would be a real scandal. Or he didn't know anything about it because he was busy with his horse squadron and luxury kulis.

Yannick Shetty

Gudenus reacts irritably
The FPÖ states: "As far as Florian Stermann is concerned, he is a close confidant and former business partner of former Austrian People's Party Interior Minister Ernst Strasser, who was also the first president of the Austrian-Russian Friendship Society, in which both Stermann and Marsalek were involved." Gudenus reacted irritably to the "Krone" and said that this was nothing new.