Pekka Kallioniemi Profile picture
Feb 6, 2023 18 tweets 8 min read Read on X
In today's #vatnik soup I'm going to talk about Austria. Countries like Serbia and Hungary often pop up in conversations about Russia and Putin apologists, but when it comes to Russian espionage and intelligence activities, Austria, along with Belgium, comes on top.

1/17
In the 1950s Austria changed their laws so, that espionage is only a crime when its directed against Austria. This combined with the fact Austria has several prominent NGO's and international organizations makes it an attractive destination for all kinds espionage.

2/17
For example, Vienna is home to the OSCE, the Organization for Security and Co-operative in Europe and has one of the headquarters of the UN.

Founder of the Austrian Center for Intelligence, Propaganda and Security Studies, Siegfried Beer has said that in Austria...

3/17
... "Espionage was a business. It still is. It brings a lot of people with a lot of money and a lot of support into the country."
He has estimated that there are around 7000 spies who masquerade as diplomats in Austria.

4/17
Austria was also the first European country to import Soviet gas and after 1968 it became a large hub for delivering gas to Italy, Germany and France. Before the 2022 invasion, 80% of Austria's natural gas came from Russia.

5/17
This made the Austrian energy sector deeply entwined and dependent on Russia, and at the end of 2021 Russian companies had assets worth of 25,5 billion USD in Austria. Russia was actually the second largest investor in Austria, right after Germany.

6/17
Austria was the first Western country to allow Putin to come for a visit after the 2014 annexation of Crimea. Russia has also influenced Austrian politics, especially with the national-conservative Freedom Party. Like in Germany, several high-ranking Austrian politicians...

7/17
...& officials have moved to Russian business world, including former chancellors Wolfgang Schüssel (board member at Lukoil) & Christian Kern (board member at Russian Railways).Former Austrian foreign minister Karin Kneissl works for Rosneft and in writes a column for the RT.8/17
This relationship with Russia has strained relations with other EU countries, and this has decreased the trust of their European partners towards the Austrian intelligence services and the defense ministry.

9/17
One anonymous source called the latter as "practically a department of the GRU". As a consequence, British MI5 and the Dutch intelligence agency have heavily reduced information sharing with Austria's intelligence services and defense ministry.

10/17
In 2018, an investigation revealed that an Austrian colonel had spied for Russia since the 90s. BBC described the case as a "particular embarrassment to Austria". In 2020, a retired Austrian military man was sentenced to 3 years in prison for spying for Russia.

11/17
Probably the most famous case of espionage in Austria is the case of Egisto Ott. Ott is a former intelligence officer suspected of selling state secrets to the Russians as well as providing intelligence on anti-Kremlin individuals in the West.

12/17
CIA warned Austrian authorities about Ott already back in 2017. He was eventually transferred to a police academy, where he requested hundreds of illegal searches on various actors, including Christo Grozev (@christogrozev) of Bellingcat.

13/17
In 2021, Austrian diplomat Johannes Peterlik allegedly leaked confidential documents about the Skripali poisonings. He's suspected of giving these documents to a former Austrian secret agent accused for spying on behalf of Russia.

14/17
Austria's banking system is also closely tied to Russia, and Austria's second biggest bank, Raiffeisen Bank International made 35% of its 2021 profits in Russia. Raiffeisen Bank is still one of the few European banks operating as usual in Russia.

15/17
Austrian police forces came under harsh criticism in May, 2022, after they removed pro-Ukrainian, flag-wearing demonstrators from a pro-Russian rally. The pro-Russian crowd was allowed to continue their chants of support for president Putin.

16/17
After the invasion of Ukraine and the massacre in Bucha, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer was the first European leader to visit Putin. He described the discussions as "very direct, open and tough". After Bucha, Austria finally expelled four Russian diplomats.

17/17
Support my work (and get some AI art!): buymeacoffee.com/PKallioniemi

Past soups: vatniksoup.com

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Pekka Kallioniemi

Pekka Kallioniemi Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @P_Kallioniemi

Aug 18
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll explain the Alaska Fiasco and how it marks the peak of Trump’s two-year betrayal of Ukraine. What was sold as “peace talks” turned into a spectacle of weakness, humiliation, empty promises, and photo-ops that handed Putin exactly what he wanted.

1/24 Image
Let’s start with the obvious: Trump desperately wants the gold medal of the Nobel Peace Prize, mainly because Obama got one. That’s why he’s now LARPing as a “peace maker” in every conflict: Israel-Gaza, Azerbaijan-Armenia, India-Pakistan, and of course Ukraine-Russia.

2/24 Image
Image
Image
Image
Another theory is that Putin holds kompromat — compromising material such as videos or documents — that would put Trump in an extremely bad light. Some have suggested it could be tied to the Epstein files or Russia’s interference in the 2016 US presidential election.

3/24 Image
Image
Read 25 tweets
Aug 11
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll talk about engagement farming: a cynical social media tactic to rack up likes, shares, and comments. From rage farming to AI-powered outrage factories, engagement farming is reshaping online discourse and turning division into profit.

1/23 Photo by JULIE OLIVER /Postmedia
Engagement farming is a social media tactic aimed at getting maximum likes, shares, and comments, with truth being optional. It thrives on provocative texts, images, or videos designed to spark strong reactions, boost reach, and turn online outrage into clicks and cash.

2/23 Image
One subset of engagement farming is rage farming: a tactic built to provoke strong negative emotions through outrageous or inflammatory claims. By triggering anger or moral outrage, these posts often generate 100s or even 1,000s of heated comments, amplifying their reach.

3/23 Image
Read 24 tweets
Aug 6
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll cover the autocratic concept of “Good Tsar, Bad Boyars”: the idea that the leader is wise and just, but constantly sabotaged by corrupt advisors. This narrative shields the ruler from blame, and it’s used by both Putin and Trump today.

1/20 Image
The phrase “Good Tsar, Bad Boyars” (Царь хороший, бояре плохие), also known as Naïve Monarchism, refers to a long-standing idea in Russian political culture: the ruler is good and benevolent, but his advisors are corrupt, incompetent and responsible for all failures.

2/20 Image
From this perception, any positive action taken by the government is viewed as being an accomplishment of the benevolent leader, whereas any negative one is viewed as being caused by lower-level bureaucrats or “boyars”, without the approval of the leader.

3/20 Image
Read 21 tweets
Jul 28
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Russian politician and First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration of Russia, Sergey Kiriyenko. He’s best known for running both domestic and foreign disinformation and propaganda operations for the Kremlin.

1/20 Image
On paper, and in photos, Kiriyenko is just as boring as most of the Kremlin’s “political technologists”: between 2005-2016 he headed the Rosatom nuclear energy company, but later played a leading role in the governance of Russia-occupied territories in Ukraine.

2/20 Image
Image
What is a political technologist? In Russia, they’re spin doctors & propaganda architects who shape opinion, control narratives, and manage elections — often by faking opposition, staging events, and spreading disinfo to maintain Putin’s power and the illusion of democracy.

3/20 Image
Read 21 tweets
Jul 27
Let me show you how a Pakistani (or Indian, they're usually the same) AI slop farm/scam operates. The account @designbonsay is a prime example: a relatively attractive, AI-generated profile picture and a ChatGPT-style profile description are the first red flags.

1/5 Image
The profile's posts are just generic engagement farming, usually using AI-generated photos of celebrities or relatively attractive women.

These posts are often emotionally loaded and ask the user to interact with them ("like and share if you agree!").

2/5 Image
Image
Then there's the monetization part. This particular account sells "pencil art", which again are just AI-generated slop.

Country code for the phone number is in Pakistan.

3/5 Image
Read 5 tweets
Jul 15
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce an American lawyer and politician, Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee). He’s best-known for opposing the aid to Ukraine, undermining NATO by calling the US to withdraw from the alliance, and for fighting with a bunch of braindead dogs online.

1/21 Image
Like many of the most vile vatniks out there, “Based Mike” is a lawyer by profession. He hails from the holy land of Mormons, Utah, where he faces little political competition, allowing him to make the most outrageous claims online without risking his Senate seat.

2/21 Image
Before becoming a senator, Mike fought to let a nuclear waste company dump Italian radioactive waste in Utah, arguing it was fine if they just diluted it. The state said no, the public revolted, and the courts told poor Mikey to sit down.

3/21 Image
Read 23 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(