{"id":5621,"date":"2026-05-04T15:27:40","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T15:27:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/?p=5621"},"modified":"2026-05-15T19:37:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T19:37:53","slug":"moscow-vows-harsh-response-to-eu-nation-over-diplomats-expulsion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/04\/moscow-vows-harsh-response-to-eu-nation-over-diplomats-expulsion\/","title":{"rendered":"Moscow vows harsh response to EU nation over diplomats\u2019 expulsion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Austria has claimed antennas on the roofs of Russian Embassy buildings may have been used for spying<\/strong><\/p>\n

Austria\u2019s decision to expel three Russian diplomats will be met with a harsh response from Moscow, the Russian Embassy in Vienna said on Monday, calling the move unjustified and politically motivated.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the day, Reuters cited Austrian Foreign Minister \u200cBeate Meinl-Reisinger as saying that the three diplomats had already left the country. The minister accused the Russian mission of \u201ccommitting espionage,\u201d<\/em> claiming that an \u201cantenna forest\u201d<\/em> on the roofs of diplomatic buildings could be used to intercept satellite communications.<\/p>\n

\u201dA harsh response from Moscow to these absolutely reckless actions by the Austrian side will undoubtedly follow,\u201d<\/em> the Russian Embassy in Vienna said in a statement. \u201cFull responsibility for any further deterioration of already historically low bilateral relations lies entirely on Vienna.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The Russian mission accused the Austrian authorities of targeting not only embassy staff but also Russian officials serving at the Permanent Mission to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).<\/p>\n

Vienna hosts the headquarters of several major international organizations \u2013 including the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), OPEC, and a number of UN agencies \u2013 in which Russia participates, maintaining diplomatic and technical engagement.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"FILE
Suspected \u2018Russian spy\u2019 discovered in Vienna \u2013 officials<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Slamming the expulsion as entirely \u201cunjustified, purely politically motivated, and categorically unacceptable,\u201d<\/em> the embassy highlighted that Austria provided no evidence of any violations of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.<\/p>\n

The latest expulsions bring the total number of Russian representatives forced to leave Austria since 2020 to 14. In September, Austria ordered a Russian diplomat to leave over alleged contact with a dismissed executive suspected of espionage at state energy company OMV. In 2024, Vienna removed two more Russian Embassy officials over activities deemed incompatible with their status. Moscow has responded with tit-for-tat measures, ordering Austrian officials of equivalent rank to depart Russia.<\/p>\n

In April, Austrian magazine Falter reported, citing a draft from the country\u2019s Justice Ministry, that Vienna plans to tighten its laws by introducing criminal liability for espionage targeting the EU and international organizations based in the country.<\/p>\n

Divided into Allied sectors after World War Two, \u2060Austria long had a reputation as a den of spies during the Cold War.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Austria has claimed antennas on the roofs of Russian Embassy buildings may have been used for spying Austria\u2019s decision to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5623,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5621"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5621"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5625,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5621\/revisions\/5625"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}