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Austria And Russian Intelligence
There has for years been a controversial relationship between Austria and Russian intelligence. Due to domestic policies and a history of neutrality, Austria has for decades been a center for intelligence activities in Europe. Together with Belgium, it has been considered a hub for Russian intelligence. Austria's role in espionage, particularly as a base for Russian intelligence operations, has been noted by several media outlets. ''Washington Post'' has called Vienna "a haunt for spies", while NBC stated it is "widely regarded as the spying capital of the world". BBC has referred to it as a "centre for espionage". ''New Statesman'' has described Austria as "Russia's tunnel into the heart of Europe" and that Austria is a "compromised state", with the country's attachment to neutrality leading it to cultivate "obsequious relations with Russian energy and espionage". Because of this, Eastern Europeans have at times referred to Austria as "Russia's Trojan horse in Western Europe". ''F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Austrian Neutrality
The Declaration of Neutrality () was a declaration by the Austrian Parliament declaring the country permanently neutral. It was enacted on 26 October 1955 as a constitutional act of parliament, i.e., as part of the Constitution of Austria The Federal Constitution of Austria () is the body of all constitutional law of the Republic of Austria on the federal level. It is split up over many different acts. Its centerpiece is the Federal Constitutional Law (''Bundes-Verfassungsgesetz' .... Pursuant to resolution of the Federal Assembly of Parliament following the Austrian State Treaty, Austria declared "its permanent neutrality of its own accord". The second section of this law stated: "In all future times Austria will not join any military alliances and will not permit the establishment of any foreign military bases on her territory." History Formally, the declaration was promulgated voluntarily by the Republic of Austria. Politically, it was the direct consequence of the allie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlantic, North Atlantic, the French West Indies, and List of islands of France, many islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean, giving it Exclusive economic zone of France, one of the largest discontiguous exclusive economic zones in the world. Metropolitan France shares borders with Belgium and Luxembourg to the north; Germany to the northeast; Switzerland to the east; Italy and Monaco to the southeast; Andorra and Spain to the south; and a maritime border with the United Kingdom to the northwest. Its metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea. Its Regions of France, eighteen integral regions—five of which are overseas—span a combined area of and hav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
GRU (Russian Federation)
The Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, formerly the Main Intelligence Directorate,; and still commonly known by its previous abbreviation GRU,; is the foreign military intelligence agency of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Armed Forces of the Russia, Russian Federation. The GRU controls the military intelligence service and maintains Spetsnaz GRU, its own special forces units. Unlike Russia's other Intelligence agencies of Russia, security and intelligence agenciessuch as the Foreign Intelligence Service (Russia), Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), the Federal Security Service (FSB), and the Federal Protective Service (Russia), Federal Protective Service (FSO)whose heads report directly to the president of Russia (see Intelligence agencies of Russia), the director of the GRU is subordinate to the Russian military command, reporting to the Minister of De ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RT (TV Network)
RT, formerly Russia Today (), is a Russian State media, state-controlled international news television network funded by the Russian government. It operates pay television and free-to-air television channel, channels directed to audiences outside of Russia, as well as providing Internet content in Russian, English, Spanish, French, German, Arabic, Portuguese and Serbian. RT is a brand of TV-Novosti, a nonprofit registered Nonprofit_organization_laws_by_jurisdiction#Russia, as an "autonomous non-commercial organization" (ANO) and founded by the Russian state news agency Federal State Unitary Enterprise, FSUE RIA Novosti in April 2005. During the economic crisis in December 2008, the Russian government, headed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, included ANO "TV-Novosti" on its List of strategic organizations of Russia, list of core organizations of strategic importance to Russia. RT operates as a multilingual service with channels in five languages: the original English-language ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rosneft
PJSC Rosneft Oil Company ( stylized as ROSNEFT) is a Russian integrated energy company headquartered in Moscow. Rosneft specializes in the exploration, extraction, production, refining, transport, and sale of petroleum, natural gas, and petroleum products. The company is controlled by the Russian government through the Rosneftegaz holding company. Its name is a portmanteau of the Russian words (). Rosneft was founded in 1993, as a state enterprise and then incorporated in 1995, acquiring a number of state-controlled gas and oil assets. It became Russia's leading oil company after purchasing assets of the former oil company Yukos at state-run auctions. After acquiring OJSC TNK-BP in 2013, then one of the largest oil companies in Russia, Rosneft became the world's largest publicly traded petroleum company. Rosneft is the second largest Russian company and state-controlled company in Russia in terms of revenue ( ₽4,134 billion). Internationally, it is one of the larges ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karin Kneissl
Karin Kneissl (born 18 January 1965) is an Austrian diplomat, journalist, and politician. She served as Minister of Foreign Affairs between 2017 and 2019. Prior to assuming her government position, she was a lecturer. Kneissl has advocated for closer relations with Russia and has a close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. She has lived in Russia since 2023. Early life and education Born in Vienna, Kneissl spent part of her childhood in Amman, where her father worked as a pilot for King Hussein of Jordan and also was involved in developing Royal Jordanian Airlines. In her youth and student days Kneissl also was active in Amnesty International and supported environmental and human rights organizations worldwide. Kneissl studied law and Oriental languages at the University of Vienna between 1983 and 1987. After graduating, she studied International relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the University of Jordan in Amman. Subsequently, she spent a year ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Russian Railways
Russian Railways or RZD () is a Russian fully state-owned vertically integrated railway company, both managing infrastructure and operating freight and passenger train services and has a near-monopoly on long-distance train travel in Russia. The company was established on 18 September 2003, when a decree was passed to separate the upkeep and operation of the railways from the Ministry of Railways of the Russian Federation, which in turn was the successor of the USSR Ministry of Railways. RZhD is based in Moscow at Novaya Basmannaya str., 2. The operating units of the central part of the staff are at Kalanchevskaya str., 35. Railways in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine are controlled by Crimea Railway and Novorossiya Railway, both companies being independent from RZD. History Background and 2003 reform After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Russian Federation inherited 17 of the 32 regions of the former Soviet Railways (SZD). In the mid-1990s, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christian Kern
Christian Kern (; born 4 January 1966) is an Austrian businessman and former politician who served as Chancellor of Austria from 17 May 2016 to 18 December 2017 and chairman of the Social Democratic Party from 25 June 2016 to 25 September 2018. A business journalist by profession, the member of Austria's Social Democratic Party served as spokesman of the SPÖ's parliamentary group leader in the mid-1990s, before he became a senior manager in Austria's leading electricity company Verbund AG. In 2010, Kern was appointed CEO of the state-owned Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), chairing the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) from 2014 onwards. Following the resignation of Werner Faymann amidst the presidential election, the governing Social Democrats nominated Kern for the office of chancellor. Kern was sworn in as Chancellor of Austria on 17 May 2016, vowing to continue the grand coalition with the People's Party (ÖVP) but promising a New Deal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wolfgang Schüssel
Wolfgang Schüssel (; born 7 June 1945) is a retired Austrian politician. He was Chancellor of Austria for two consecutive terms from February 2000 to January 2007. While being recognised as a rare example of an active reformer in contemporary Austrian politics, his governments were also highly controversial from the beginning, starting with the fact that he formed a coalition government with Jörg Haider's Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) on both occasions. In 2011, he retired from being an active member of parliament due to a multitude of charges of corruption against members of his governments. Early life, education, and start in politics Born in Vienna, Schüssel attended that city's '' Schottengymnasium'', a well known Roman Catholic '' gymnasium'' for boys, where he took his '' Matura'' exams in 1963. He went on to study at the University of Vienna, receiving a doctorate in law in 1968. Schüssel was secretary of the parliamentary group of the Austrian People's Party f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freedom Party Of Austria
The Freedom Party of Austria (, FPÖ) is a political party in Austria, variously described as far-right, right-wing populist, national-conservative, and Eurosceptic. It has been led by Herbert Kickl since 2021. It is the largest of five parties in the National Council, with 57 of the 183 seats, and won 28.85% of votes cast in the 2024 election and it is represented in all nine state legislatures. On a European level, the FPÖ is a founding member of the Patriots.eu (originally the Movement for a Europe of Nations and Freedom) and its six MEPs sit with the Patriots for Europe (PfE) group following the dissolution of its predecessor, Identity and Democracy (ID). The FPÖ was founded in 1956 as the successor to the short-lived Federation of Independents (VdU), representing pan-Germanists and national liberals opposed to socialism and Catholic clericalism, represented by the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) and the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), respectively. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Annexation Of Crimea By The Russian Federation
In February and March 2014, Russia invaded the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, part of Ukraine, and then annexed it. This took place in the relative power vacuum immediately following the Revolution of Dignity. It marked the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian War. The Revolution of Dignity, events in Kyiv that Revolution of Dignity#Removal of Yanukovych, ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych on 22 February 2014 sparked both pro-Russian and anti-separatism Timeline of the 2014 Crimean crisis#February 23, demonstrations in Crimea. At the same time, Russian president Vladimir Putin told his security chiefs to begin work on "returning Crimea to Russia". On 27 February, Little green men (Russo-Ukrainian War), Russian special forces without insignia seized strategic sites across Crimea. Russia at first denied involvement, but Putin later admitted that they were Russian troops. As the armed men Capture of the Crimean Parliament, occupied Crimea's parliament, it dismissed the Council ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
