i used to work as an airport taxi driver and used to bring americans to the same villa outside of vienna. i was always asking them what they do for a living and every single person was telling me a different story. later i found out what i was guessing all the time. that building was a NSA site
I went to school around the corner of the one in the 18th or 19th district (don't remember where exactly the district borders are up there) in the 90s and apparently everyone around there knew it lol
It is exactly at the border 18th/19th in Pötzleinsdorf, to be exact Pötzleinsdorf Straße 126-128. It is actually the villa shown in 04:03-04:05. But there are no activities no more there now.
yup in 2023 they found a body in a danube of a iranian spy who allegeldy wanted to desert. In 2024 another suspicious case where they found a suitcase with a chopped up body.. Spy war is indeed realt. What of course contributes a lot to the situation is that Vienna is the diplomatic Capital of the World (UN, OPEC etc. to list a few) and Vienna also had a historical role as a gateway to Eastern Europe.
Kinda feels crazy walking by so many places where spy movies where filmed every day. Have seen multiple productions for spy movies and tv shows. A Jack Ryan scene was filmed right in front of my gym.😂
The BVT doesn't existes anymore, they disbanded the whole intelligence after a political scandal (which also has to do with russian infiltration and the political right wing party FPÖ). The new intelligence in Austria is the new formed DSN (which mean State Security and Intelligence Directorate).
As an Austrian it feels kind of weird to be called 'westernised'. I always thought I we are part of 'the west' and our values are part of and have influenced what 'the west' is. Then on the other hand the way the word 'westernised' is used in this video makes me feel as though we might as well say 'americanised'.
Yeah, Austria is smack in the middle of Europe. Just because people mistakingly believe Poland is Eastern Europe (despite being geographically more western than Austria) doesn't mean that the so called "West" ends at Austria. In general I dislike the concept of a so called "West", because it blindly lumps a bunch of distinctive Nations and states together (and with the USA who have even less in common with Europe) as if they are a collective with the same ideals, laws and cultures. I get that people presume the ideas of personal freedom and human rights to be some kind of "Western" ideal, but is it really? (If yes, then the USA are prob not going to be "Western" for long if they keep up making oppressive laws). It's a strange holdover from the Cold War times when we tried to split the world into an economical and political half and that idea of "West vs. East" has since only been used by shady states to excuse their tyrannical and oppressive actions.
@MysteriousAsteria the term West isn't a blind lumping, and it doesn't deny the distinctiveness of the countries that can be called the West. It also doesn't mean there cant be regressive laws, otherwise Poland would also be dubious to include. What binds the West is a likeminded tendency towards democratic representative governments with a plurality of political parties and a largely free media that can criticize or support state and partisan actors (America backsliding on abortion rights doesnt really change that). That makes the West distinct from much of the developing world, China, Russia, and the ME. It also ironically makes the "West" essentially inclusive of certain East Asian countries like Japan or ROK, which I see as the real reason to criticize the term West
Reminds me of how the video is focused on the disproportionate influence of Russian intelligence in Vienna after glossing over American dominance of intelligence.
I had a friend's dad who worked for the CIA for years, one thing that he said that was really remarkable was "I know this place but officially it is my first day here". Scary!
Nicely done and very interesting fact about my home country. Please note that the BVT was a federal Office that does not exist anymore since 2021. It's the DSN (Direktion für Staatsschutz und Nachrichtendienst) that is the actual secret service operating in behalf of Austria. Other than that your video is awesome !
The Austrian security sevice BVT was raided by police a few years ago on behalf of the minister for inner affairs, who was from the Russian-friendly party mentioned in the video. Thats the reason why no other European security service want to share data with the BVT.
Hi from Austria - I've heard that whole spy stuff from some Austrian TH-cam channels before and it's still quiet interesting to see/hear about those stuffs (also our government is a kindergarten)
There is actually a huge scandal going on in austria right now. An former important BVT agend was arrested for supplying russia with encrypted laptops and phones of politicians. Also the former Wirecard coo seems to be a russian spy as well As an austrian it is extremel concerning but at the same time exciting to follow😅
Considering that other agents are funnelling all of the information on the Austrian government to the CIA (just as e.g. in Germany that knew they are 100% spied on, including all of the chancellor private talks, but totally happy about it), this is a much smaller deal.
I used to live in vienna and i became used to brushing shoulders with oligarchs. If you go anywhere near the city Center/ international center, its normal. I even have an OPEC executive business card, even though i have nothing to do with opec or even the upper classes
You accidentaly became a spy. The most dangerous one, without an agency to control you. Nobody knows where you belong, what ideology you follow, what weapons you carry, which agenda you spread. There were operatives trying to crack your nickname´s meaning, using all the algorithms, even feeding your data to A.I., but it yielded no results. Little do they know you just smacked your face on keyboard after getting annoyed all you desired nicknames were taken. You have only 5 followers - IRL. If you keep that up, intelligence services will send female agents to spend night(s) with you in order to obtain information.
Austria is not at all geopolitically neutral, but rather militarily as written in our constitution. Just a quick summary what both terms mean: Military neutrality refers specifically to a state's decision not to participate in military alliances or engage in armed conflict unless directly attacked. Austria's military neutrality, for instance, is enshrined in its constitution, dating back to the aftermath of World War II, when it was occupied by Allied forces. This neutrality means that Austria does not join military alliances like NATO and avoids involvement in conflicts. Geopolitical neutrality, on the other hand, is a broader concept. It encompasses not only military alliances but also political and economic alignments. A geopolitically neutral country, beyond abstaining from military alliances, aims to maintain impartiality in international disputes, avoid taking sides in conflicts, and pursue a foreign policy focused on neutrality and non-alignment. This could involve diplomatic efforts to mediate conflicts, participating in international organizations as a neutral party, and fostering good relations with all countries. For example, Austria has a clear stance on several geopolitical issues like the Ukraine war and the current middle east crisis.
Actually.... Sorry, but i made the same mistake for years, and so i have an urge to correct that: the austrian neutrality is actually only mentioned in the constitution in §9 where the military defense is mentioned covered. The constitution does not say anything else about neutrality. There is a seperate law however which is on the same hirarchy level as our constitution (Bundesverfassungsgesetz) that is already named "neutrality law" and there, it is covered. With the same hirarchical level i mean, to change it you need the same majorities in parliament as to change the constitution. (2/3rds majority in parliament when more than 50% of members of parliament are present and voting)
@@nirfz That is true, yet the law you reference also does not mention anything non-military (www.ris.bka.gv.at/geltendefassung/bundesnormen/10000267/neutralit%C3%83%C2%A4tsgesetz,%20fassung%20vom%2019.05.2021.pdf) Additionally, the here is a link to a description of the Austrian government of what Austria's neutrality refers to: www.parlament.gv.at/fachinfos/rlw/Was-macht-die-oesterreichische-Neutralitaet-aus It literally states that Austria may have a stance on actions, but is not allowed to interfere to the benefit of either side of the conflict. In a recent fact check concerning this topic, it states "Als neutraler Staat darf es keine direkte oder indirekte militärische Unterstützung an Kriegsparteien liefern. Das heißt, es dürfen beispielsweise auch keine Waffen geliefert werden. Wirtschaftliche und diplomatische Beziehungen zu Konfliktparteien sind allerdings erlaubt."
@@joeyjojojrshabadoo7462 More neutral than NATO members, you're right about that. But Austrian ministers and other representatives also visited Kyiv to show their political and economic assistance (which they have to implement since they are also an EU member).
@@joeyjojojrshabadoo7462Kinda yes, kinda no. Politically only the Freedom Party is really calling for neutrality. The party also has continued to maintain questionable affiliations with powerful russian companies and people. All others more or less stick to the military interpretation of the neutrality clause in the constitution. Economically Austria has a huge problem. During the Cold War Austria bought almost all its natural gas from the USSR as a token of neutrality. This didn't change since and the country is very dependant on it and has not managed to come off it. And rising heating costs is not very popular anywhere. Another facette is that after the fall of the Iron Curtain, austrian companies and banks were the first to expand into the soviet block. And they invested a lot. Now they have large amounts of assets tied up in Russia and cannot seem to find a way to pull out without loosing all of them. The most internationally prominent example is the Raiffeisen Bank, I believe, which is one of the largest austrian banks. Ideologically, Austria can be compared to Germany. Very few people support Russia, those that do are mainly far-right nationalists. But a significant amount of people are so fed up with politics that they are politically apathic to the topic
vienna is called "wean, oida" ;) some correction to your amazingly researched video: the austrian freedom party unfortunately isnt the 3rd biggest party - currently (and we vote in september) its the biggest party. the biggest meaning 30%, that leaves 70% opposing their politics (they have pretty much no common ground with other parties). the guy you show at 10:58 - hc strache - actually was vice chancellor of austria. untill he was videotaped deaddrunk dicussing major corruption with an alleged russian oligarch... the 3 bulgarians who were arrensted in london were recruited by jan marsalek, an austian who rose up to the highest ranks in the wirecard-scam. he ofc was helped right after his interpol-warrent by a politician (or ex-politician, cant remember exactly) from this party. may my fellow austrians never forget, especially not in september.... and lastly - austria always was kind of a sneaky bastard.. i mean, we managed to make the world believe hitler was german but beethoven was austrian ;)
fpö is the 3rd largest party, because relying on election results is a much more accurate indicator as opposed to polls which can greatly vary depending on the exact timing and executing Institute
A friend of mine was offered a lucrative job regularly driving Korean "tourists" from Vienna to Bratislava International Airport. The large sum of money they offered seemed kind of sus, so he declined the offer. A few months latter there was an article about N. Korean citizens being busted at the border, smuggling U$D in their suitcases to fly back to NK. Everybody was arrested and charged, including an Austrian national, who was probably the poor unsuspecting, albeit greedy, driver...
No, it's set in Cold War East and West Germany (hence Ostania and Westalis). However, Yuri seems to have been stationed in Austria before. Edit: Yuri was stationed in Hungary
Chana, I’m a Saffa and I picked up from your accent that you’re likely one of our boitjies (sp). This was my first time watching your content. Lekker work and I wish you all the best!🤘🏾
As an Austrian, i got to know few people few years back, at a bar at night, they were all American, we became friends, everything was normal, until one day i saw i was being followed by some people, and when these people also went back to the U.S, the Austrian police visited my apartment, and the whole place was monitored, and i was under monitoring for 14 months. That was the scariest shit Ive been through ever. And since that day, i will never get to know new people. I will stick to my austrian school friends, as i know who they are.
Something similar, but on a less threatening level happened to a friend of mine in Canada. He would meet up with a friend from his school days occasionally. Soon he got a strange feeling that he was being monitored, especially when meeting with his friend. It turned out that that friend had become close to a guy that was the subject of a major drug trafficking police investigation. My friend did not know that guy at all. He was always on edge when in public. It lasted for about 8 months.
From the mid 2000's to 2010's i worked at Vienna Airport. Atleast during that time, Vienna Int. Airport was the only airport on earth, where diplomates could enter the transit zone by showing their diplomatic passports only and without a boarding pass. Not sure if its still the case today. Mainly during the cold war, prisoner exchanges between the West and Soviet Union where carried out on it's tarmac, but they became rare afterwards. Nowadays they meet in the transit area and lounges. This is usefull to keep up an alibi, because spies can land with one plane and leave with another one, without leaving the non-schengen gates and showing their passport to anyone, like regular transit passengers. So they can hide traces, because it's hard to proof a potential meeting, when one of them officially never put his feet on austrian soil. Over the years i noticed a good dozen of ppl where i am confident, that they were spies. For anyone interested in this topic, i can recommend the book Die Schattenstadt (The Void) from Emil Bobi.
§319 Stgb, as you stated correctly, prohibits any foreign military secret intelligence inside austrian borders. Not just if it is to the detriment of austria but all! (It's only §254 and 256 that mention the clause of it needing to be harmfull for austrian security or it's relations to other nations, 319 has no such clause!) And the M in MI6 (as you showed with the logo) for exampe, stands for "military" and so is by law (§319 StGb) prohibited from operating in austria. And not just that, this short § also states that the same punishmen is also valid for just "supporting" any such foreign intelligence agency within the borders. So the normal criminal code already forbids almost everythig that happens. And to change these laws there is no need for an amendment or change of constitution. As for the austrian neutrality: I for many years was of the wrong opinion that it is in the austrian constitution. But when you read it, there is no mention of it. The neutrality law is a seperate law. Seperate from the constitution, but at the same level. So yes it would need most of the members of parliament to vote for a change of the neutrality law, but the neutrality law is not saying anything about espionage. This could be dealt with in the normal code of law. Which §319 basically already does... The only thing would be that some agencies could claim that they are not military intelligence agencies. The civillian ones aren't really forbidden unless they act to the detriment of austria or it's relations. Then again everything you listed for the russian intelligence agencies -> "disrupting western life and ideology" could be seen as to the detriment of the relations between austria and other countries. So it's against the law too. The biggest problem is getting rid of them, and actually executing the laws that are there for these purposes and prosecuting their nonobedience... (and that's where austria is severely lacking sadly)
The flag covering Austria is looking more like the flag of Latvia! The Austrian flag is a triband of red-white-red without the coat of arms. The coat of arms are only on service flags.
Being from a Czech city called Brno, which is often called a "suburb of Vienna", I absolutely love the city, and here, the impacts of Austrian (and German) presence from the past is very visible. I recommend checking out our lovely city aswell!
As an austrian, I sadly can confirm this! We do get the information in small chunks in the media but I guess, ppl here just don't care, as long as someone offers them literally any easy answer to their personal problems...
It's not only the last 20 years though. Pretty sure Vienna's been like that for the whole 20th century 😂. Austria is like a synonym for both diplomacy and espionage I feel like.
Yep, there are a lot of license plates that start with "WD..." in Vienna (which means they are diplomatic vehicles ;)) and whenever I am around the OPEC I feel uneasy, for no particular apparent reason. LOTS of Russians here too and 2 of our main political parties (FPÖ and ÖVP) have links to Russia and everybody knows it and nobody seems to care. :/
You do know that people working for international organizations in managing positions also get WD license plates? It doesn't mean they represent their countries or that they are spies.
Austrian here. A few clarifications: - Vienna has been a hotbed for foreign espionage since before the 1950s, not just in the last 20 years. The 1940s movie The Third Man literally plays on this topic. In addition, to having more lenient laws, a major reason is, however, it's high density of international organizations (UN, OPEC, OSCE, etc.) that might make espionage worth it. - It wasn't only Moscow that demanded neutrality be regulated in Austria's constitution, but equally the U.S. In fact, for Austria to be declared neutral was a fundamental requirement for its independence. Otherwise, neither the US nor Soviet Union would have given up its occupation which they had established for 10 years after WWII and would be have craved up the country similarly to Western vs. Eastern Germany. - At 6:50, the map shows Crimea as part of Russia (but not Eastern Ukraine). Legally, neither is recognized by any Western nations and should both be shown as part of Ukraine. Even if illustrating 'Russian influence,' Donetsk, Luhansk, Transnistria, South Ossetia, or Abkhazia would qualify similarly and are correctly not shown as such either.
I live in Vienna and am ashamed for my country. Everything is going downhill and soon the nationalist party will win the election and war will also come to Austria
If any message can be translated to a string of 1s and 0s, then you can convert that string into one singular number. Wouldnt that be the PERFECT secret code? You just have to change the standard rules of how the 1s and 0s are created or which base you translate it with or even whether you want to use a base in the first place. You could use a different way of creating a number. Then people trying to crack it cant use any cryptographic tools like letter frequency. I ould be just as hard as trying to crack a string of 1000000 A's. Nobody would have any clue how to start except maybe finding which base it is in, so thats why you dont use a base
It's where winners of WW2 make deals. That was Berlin before in a way but even back then Vienna had similar role. It is important to differ Austria neutrality and Swiss neutrality. Austria was forced to become neutral or it would have been split.
Austria doesn’t necessarily claim geopolitical neutrality. Austria is neutral when it comes to military actions, but other than that it‘s definitely politically western and makes no attempt at hiding it. There‘s a reason why Austria openly supports Ukraine and sanctions against Russia for example.
Austria is seriously considering giving up its neutrality, fiercely took part in pro Ukraine rhetoric, hoisted the Israeli flag on October 7th and has long shown its geopolitical alignment. There’s nothing neutral about Austria anymore.
It’s not at all. Austria is neutral. We where a nazi country. We where the catalyst who made Israel after torturing their people. We also stand with Ukrainians because me and many others had to house them and let their wives and kids sleep in our homes whilst the war started. It’s called being a good human.
I was born in Vienna and still live here, its important to note that what the east was "scared" of (Austria becoming part of the "west" if they do not agree to be a neutral state) still happened (see goverment support of israel, Ukraine etc.). Austria, especially the cities of Austria are completely westernized, also we have western media propaganda, and eastern news are blocked, 20 years ago we had good relations with the east and the west, but today politics has gotten so complicated, and politicians are pressured into condemning the east. Either that or the 95% of our politcians are very uneducated in actual history and they actually do not know any better, which in either way is very sad to see.
Also its not at all something "new" that vienna is a hub for foreign intelligence, this has been going on for far more that 20 years..far far more, other than that, great video
@@frauleinbird Und wie oft bist du geimpft? Wo kam auf einmal das ganze Transgenderthema her? Die Propaganda funktioniert so gut, dass Leute wie du sie nicht mal mehr bemerken. Alles steht unter Kontrolle der Amerikaner. Was Europa darf wird von denen bestimmt. Dann zerstörens auch noch unsere Pipeline und tun so als würden die Russen sowas machen... und ihr checkt es alles nicht mehr 😂
Just to let you know - the liberal party NEOS has also worked on getting the "espionage paragraph" amended to include espionage against foreign entities.
me, a viennese person, at the start of the video: "hell yea, that's so cool ,vienna is literally like a james bond movie" me, a viennese person, at the end of the video: "what the fuck, this fucking sucks!"
Apologies from the errors on the mapping of Crimea as Russia! It was unfortunately an overseen mistake that was not caught.
You spell Montenegro wrong
Of course, the Crimea is independent respublic.
Crimea is Russia! As well as Lugansk, Donetsk, Zaporozhie and Kherson 🇷🇺💪🏻
It was correct since russia occupied crimea in 2014, that's how war works
@@eduardgabidullin2873russentroll geh scheissen!
My sister came back from holiday in Vienna yesterday. She said it was lovely and I got a fridge magnet
Cool!
badass
Cool
Beware the camera on the magnet
hahahaaaa😂😂😂😂 well I guess thats cool
Lenin, hitler, trotsky, tito, stalin and freud were in vienna at the same time
Frued also? It's insane to think about
Also archduke Franz Ferdinand
@@carlmller4769 yes he was there
Man, thats such an intriguing bit. Anything you'd suggest to watch which speaks more around this? Thanks for the info bdw.
Biden, Kamala, Macron, Trudeau, were all in the same room on the same day.
i used to work as an airport taxi driver and used to bring americans to the same villa outside of vienna. i was always asking them what they do for a living and every single person was telling me a different story. later i found out what i was guessing all the time. that building was a NSA site
There is one in the 19th district as well. The one with the dozens of satellite dishes on the roof and the heavy fences. ;)
@@t_xxic8814 welches gebäude meinst du genau denn
In general every car with WD plate is a potetnial spy
I went to school around the corner of the one in the 18th or 19th district (don't remember where exactly the district borders are up there) in the 90s and apparently everyone around there knew it lol
It is exactly at the border 18th/19th in Pötzleinsdorf, to be exact Pötzleinsdorf Straße 126-128. It is actually the villa shown in 04:03-04:05. But there are no activities no more there now.
As a doctorate student studying national security, the spy wars in Vienna is so real.
Hey, what's your PhD in?
Kinda interested in following a similar path
Biggest waste of time
@@shreeranggaidh7844 a doctorate in statecraft and national security
yup in 2023 they found a body in a danube of a iranian spy who allegeldy wanted to desert. In 2024 another suspicious case where they found a suitcase with a chopped up body.. Spy war is indeed realt.
What of course contributes a lot to the situation is that Vienna is the diplomatic Capital of the World (UN, OPEC etc. to list a few) and Vienna also had a historical role as a gateway to Eastern Europe.
Can you elaborate on that?
Austrian here, can confirm. Putins knows what I eat for breakfast
So does Biden
@@yurichtube1162 Dangerous times indeed
Polizeistaat
Leberkäs. Thats no secret.
@@xtrusion Guten Appetit!
“It’s not widely known”…
You mean “It’s very widely known”…
Is it? I didn't know that Vienna was the spy capital of the world, hence why I clicked on this video
There are no spies in Vienna giving off the same vibes as There is no war in ba sing se 😂
I always see in movies a lot of spies going to Vienna in some point, including in Mission: Impossible
Kinda feels crazy walking by so many places where spy movies where filmed every day. Have seen multiple productions for spy movies and tv shows. A Jack Ryan scene was filmed right in front of my gym.😂
@@eugen5097 damn
The BVT doesn't existes anymore, they disbanded the whole intelligence after a political scandal (which also has to do with russian infiltration and the political right wing party FPÖ). The new intelligence in Austria is the new formed DSN (which mean State Security and Intelligence Directorate).
so many errors in this video
@@doktoroptimo It's always the videos that never list any damn sources, too.
nein Verfasschungschutz gibt es noch und genauso der ND
@@ChaosAT de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundesamt_f%C3%BCr_Verfassungsschutz_und_Terrorismusbek%C3%A4mpfung
Erster Satz
@@gracetriendl721 heast ich wurde von denen 2023 Verhaftet was willst du mir erzählen?
As an Austrian it feels kind of weird to be called 'westernised'. I always thought I we are part of 'the west' and our values are part of and have influenced what 'the west' is. Then on the other hand the way the word 'westernised' is used in this video makes me feel as though we might as well say 'americanised'.
Yeah, Austria is smack in the middle of Europe. Just because people mistakingly believe Poland is Eastern Europe (despite being geographically more western than Austria) doesn't mean that the so called "West" ends at Austria. In general I dislike the concept of a so called "West", because it blindly lumps a bunch of distinctive Nations and states together (and with the USA who have even less in common with Europe) as if they are a collective with the same ideals, laws and cultures. I get that people presume the ideas of personal freedom and human rights to be some kind of "Western" ideal, but is it really? (If yes, then the USA are prob not going to be "Western" for long if they keep up making oppressive laws). It's a strange holdover from the Cold War times when we tried to split the world into an economical and political half and that idea of "West vs. East" has since only been used by shady states to excuse their tyrannical and oppressive actions.
@MysteriousAsteria the term West isn't a blind lumping, and it doesn't deny the distinctiveness of the countries that can be called the West. It also doesn't mean there cant be regressive laws, otherwise Poland would also be dubious to include. What binds the West is a likeminded tendency towards democratic representative governments with a plurality of political parties and a largely free media that can criticize or support state and partisan actors (America backsliding on abortion rights doesnt really change that). That makes the West distinct from much of the developing world, China, Russia, and the ME. It also ironically makes the "West" essentially inclusive of certain East Asian countries like Japan or ROK, which I see as the real reason to criticize the term West
@@RatherCrunchyMuffin I agree perhaps it is time to simply abondon it all together
Reminds me of how the video is focused on the disproportionate influence of Russian intelligence in Vienna after glossing over American dominance of intelligence.
I had a friend's dad who worked for the CIA for years, one thing that he said that was really remarkable was "I know this place but officially it is my first day here". Scary!
Scary is that people actually believe this bs
@@RomaInvicta202 no i'm serious lmao, he has a podcast now called "From the CIA to Strategic Cyber"!
which one, my grandads friend was with the CIA too and he told us that ur friends guy is a russian spy! so what do you say now?
@@Yukzoi want link
Nicely done and very interesting fact about my home country. Please note that the BVT was a federal Office that does not exist anymore since 2021. It's the DSN (Direktion für Staatsschutz und Nachrichtendienst) that is the actual secret service operating in behalf of Austria. Other than that your video is awesome !
The Austrian security sevice BVT was raided by police a few years ago on behalf of the minister for inner affairs, who was from the Russian-friendly party mentioned in the video.
Thats the reason why no other European security service want to share data with the BVT.
The BVT doesn’t exist anymore.
@@bernie8811 Austrian here, i have to google what the BVT even is?
edit:
Sog holt glei das des die Behörde für Verfassungsschutz is.😊?
Oida schäm dich
Yeah, Herbert Kickl.
Are you from the ÖVP?
austria mentioned raaahhh wtf is a uncorupt goverment
“Vienna is where all intelligence services sends their A-teams - what are you doing here “
Is this from a movie?
- The Recruit
Hi from Austria - I've heard that whole spy stuff from some Austrian TH-cam channels before and it's still quiet interesting to see/hear about those stuffs (also our government is a kindergarten)
Hab gedacht ich muss kotzen wie ich die leyen und den kurz gesehen hab 💀💀
@@lorenz-ggg5062 digga same
There is actually a huge scandal going on in austria right now.
An former important BVT agend was arrested for supplying russia with encrypted laptops and phones of politicians.
Also the former Wirecard coo seems to be a russian spy as well
As an austrian it is extremel concerning but at the same time exciting to follow😅
Considering that other agents are funnelling all of the information on the Austrian government to the CIA (just as e.g. in Germany that knew they are 100% spied on, including all of the chancellor private talks, but totally happy about it), this is a much smaller deal.
Austrian here: Austria is everything else than neutral lmao
Ach geh, wodenn....
Mir sin doch voll und gonz neutral😂
@lennynotkravitz We are not neutral regarding war crimes, yes.
Wir sind Situationsneutral, also wie es für uns grad besser ist
We're neutral, it just means we don't care which side pays us.
Not allowing Romania enter Schengen 🤣
It is the place where wars are settled between countries.
In fact, the way treaties work was indeed formalised in Vienna. And the treaty on international diplomacy itself too!
austria qatar singapore and some what dubai, these nation are the middle ground where people who hate each other sign treaty
min. 2:21: Vienna was also divided in 4 zones, the inner city (district 1) was administered by all 4 powers. Greetings from Vienna!
I used to live in vienna and i became used to brushing shoulders with oligarchs. If you go anywhere near the city Center/ international center, its normal. I even have an OPEC executive business card, even though i have nothing to do with opec or even the upper classes
You accidentaly became a spy. The most dangerous one, without an agency to control you. Nobody knows where you belong, what ideology you follow, what weapons you carry, which agenda you spread. There were operatives trying to crack your nickname´s meaning, using all the algorithms, even feeding your data to A.I., but it yielded no results. Little do they know you just smacked your face on keyboard after getting annoyed all you desired nicknames were taken. You have only 5 followers - IRL.
If you keep that up, intelligence services will send female agents to spend night(s) with you in order to obtain information.
Austria is not at all geopolitically neutral, but rather militarily as written in our constitution.
Just a quick summary what both terms mean:
Military neutrality refers specifically to a state's decision not to participate in military alliances or engage in armed conflict unless directly attacked. Austria's military neutrality, for instance, is enshrined in its constitution, dating back to the aftermath of World War II, when it was occupied by Allied forces. This neutrality means that Austria does not join military alliances like NATO and avoids involvement in conflicts.
Geopolitical neutrality, on the other hand, is a broader concept. It encompasses not only military alliances but also political and economic alignments. A geopolitically neutral country, beyond abstaining from military alliances, aims to maintain impartiality in international disputes, avoid taking sides in conflicts, and pursue a foreign policy focused on neutrality and non-alignment. This could involve diplomatic efforts to mediate conflicts, participating in international organizations as a neutral party, and fostering good relations with all countries.
For example, Austria has a clear stance on several geopolitical issues like the Ukraine war and the current middle east crisis.
You're right but I've heardthey've been pretty neutral on Russia regardless.
Actually.... Sorry, but i made the same mistake for years, and so i have an urge to correct that: the austrian neutrality is actually only mentioned in the constitution in §9 where the military defense is mentioned covered.
The constitution does not say anything else about neutrality.
There is a seperate law however which is on the same hirarchy level as our constitution (Bundesverfassungsgesetz) that is already named "neutrality law" and there, it is covered.
With the same hirarchical level i mean, to change it you need the same majorities in parliament as to change the constitution.
(2/3rds majority in parliament when more than 50% of members of parliament are present and voting)
@@nirfz That is true, yet the law you reference also does not mention anything non-military (www.ris.bka.gv.at/geltendefassung/bundesnormen/10000267/neutralit%C3%83%C2%A4tsgesetz,%20fassung%20vom%2019.05.2021.pdf)
Additionally, the here is a link to a description of the Austrian government of what Austria's neutrality refers to: www.parlament.gv.at/fachinfos/rlw/Was-macht-die-oesterreichische-Neutralitaet-aus
It literally states that Austria may have a stance on actions, but is not allowed to interfere to the benefit of either side of the conflict.
In a recent fact check concerning this topic, it states "Als neutraler Staat darf es keine direkte oder indirekte militärische Unterstützung an Kriegsparteien liefern. Das heißt, es dürfen beispielsweise auch keine Waffen geliefert werden. Wirtschaftliche und diplomatische Beziehungen zu Konfliktparteien sind allerdings erlaubt."
@@joeyjojojrshabadoo7462 More neutral than NATO members, you're right about that. But Austrian ministers and other representatives also visited Kyiv to show their political and economic assistance (which they have to implement since they are also an EU member).
@@joeyjojojrshabadoo7462Kinda yes, kinda no. Politically only the Freedom Party is really calling for neutrality. The party also has continued to maintain questionable affiliations with powerful russian companies and people. All others more or less stick to the military interpretation of the neutrality clause in the constitution.
Economically Austria has a huge problem. During the Cold War Austria bought almost all its natural gas from the USSR as a token of neutrality. This didn't change since and the country is very dependant on it and has not managed to come off it. And rising heating costs is not very popular anywhere. Another facette is that after the fall of the Iron Curtain, austrian companies and banks were the first to expand into the soviet block. And they invested a lot. Now they have large amounts of assets tied up in Russia and cannot seem to find a way to pull out without loosing all of them. The most internationally prominent example is the Raiffeisen Bank, I believe, which is one of the largest austrian banks.
Ideologically, Austria can be compared to Germany. Very few people support Russia, those that do are mainly far-right nationalists. But a significant amount of people are so fed up with politics that they are politically apathic to the topic
i was born in vienna and i am living here ever since. i am now 20 years old and ive never known about that. really interesting, thanks for the video
At the DC Tower, there is a big nsa surveillance station. quite close to the Russia one at the 22nd district
It's because it's overly dramatised and non factual.
@@a0chas a citizen of vienna, i strongly disagree
vienna is called "wean, oida" ;)
some correction to your amazingly researched video: the austrian freedom party unfortunately isnt the 3rd biggest party - currently (and we vote in september) its the biggest party. the biggest meaning 30%, that leaves 70% opposing their politics (they have pretty much no common ground with other parties). the guy you show at 10:58 - hc strache - actually was vice chancellor of austria. untill he was videotaped deaddrunk dicussing major corruption with an alleged russian oligarch... the 3 bulgarians who were arrensted in london were recruited by jan marsalek, an austian who rose up to the highest ranks in the wirecard-scam. he ofc was helped right after his interpol-warrent by a politician (or ex-politician, cant remember exactly) from this party. may my fellow austrians never forget, especially not in september....
and lastly - austria always was kind of a sneaky bastard.. i mean, we managed to make the world believe hitler was german but beethoven was austrian ;)
der hawara plaudert ausm nähkastl...tststs ;)
fpö is the 3rd largest party, because relying on election results is a much more accurate indicator as opposed to polls which can greatly vary depending on the exact timing and executing Institute
Also was wähl ma? Bier partei?😂
JAWOI ÖSTERREICH MENTIONED 🇦🇹🇦🇹
A friend of mine was offered a lucrative job regularly driving Korean "tourists" from Vienna to Bratislava International Airport. The large sum of money they offered seemed kind of sus, so he declined the offer. A few months latter there was an article about N. Korean citizens being busted at the border, smuggling U$D in their suitcases to fly back to NK. Everybody was arrested and charged, including an Austrian national, who was probably the poor unsuspecting, albeit greedy, driver...
This reminds of Archer when they are all in Europe and all the spy agencies are trying to outbeat each other lolll
Oh man those where the best times...
I always thought the Spy X Family anime is situated in the Austria of their universe
i think its east germany or at least inspired by the stasi
No, it's set in Cold War East and West Germany (hence Ostania and Westalis). However, Yuri seems to have been stationed in Austria before.
Edit: Yuri was stationed in Hungary
No its probably based on the old Berlin (it would also make more sense , because in the series the place is called berlint)
I think it's more in Berlin
Chana, I’m a Saffa and I picked up from your accent that you’re likely one of our boitjies (sp). This was my first time watching your content.
Lekker work and I wish you all the best!🤘🏾
Haha, also a Saffa here, I thought die same thing.
As an Austrian, i got to know few people few years back, at a bar at night, they were all American, we became friends, everything was normal, until one day i saw i was being followed by some people, and when these people also went back to the U.S, the Austrian police visited my apartment, and the whole place was monitored, and i was under monitoring for 14 months. That was the scariest shit Ive been through ever. And since that day, i will never get to know new people. I will stick to my austrian school friends, as i know who they are.
Something similar, but on a less threatening level happened to a friend of mine in Canada. He would meet up with a friend from his school days occasionally. Soon he got a strange feeling that he was being monitored, especially when meeting with his friend. It turned out that that friend had become close to a guy that was the subject of a major drug trafficking police investigation. My friend did not know that guy at all. He was always on edge when in public. It lasted for about 8 months.
If you know you were being followed and monitored, then you weren't.
From the mid 2000's to 2010's i worked at Vienna Airport. Atleast during that time, Vienna Int. Airport was the only airport on earth, where diplomates could enter the transit zone by showing their diplomatic passports only and without a boarding pass. Not sure if its still the case today. Mainly during the cold war, prisoner exchanges between the West and Soviet Union where carried out on it's tarmac, but they became rare afterwards. Nowadays they meet in the transit area and lounges. This is usefull to keep up an alibi, because spies can land with one plane and leave with another one, without leaving the non-schengen gates and showing their passport to anyone, like regular transit passengers. So they can hide traces, because it's hard to proof a potential meeting, when one of them officially never put his feet on austrian soil. Over the years i noticed a good dozen of ppl where i am confident, that they were spies.
For anyone interested in this topic, i can recommend the book Die Schattenstadt (The Void) from Emil Bobi.
The bvt no longer exists, it‘s now called dsn. The dsn was newly founded and has some other competences as well.
That was actually one of the most interesting and informative videos I’ve watched in a long while. Keep it up!
Excellent video!
Thanks for sharing this information
it's been like for at least one and half centuries
Crazy good video
§319 Stgb, as you stated correctly, prohibits any foreign military secret intelligence inside austrian borders. Not just if it is to the detriment of austria but all!
(It's only §254 and 256 that mention the clause of it needing to be harmfull for austrian security or it's relations to other nations, 319 has no such clause!)
And the M in MI6 (as you showed with the logo) for exampe, stands for "military" and so is by law (§319 StGb) prohibited from operating in austria.
And not just that, this short § also states that the same punishmen is also valid for just "supporting" any such foreign intelligence agency within the borders.
So the normal criminal code already forbids almost everythig that happens.
And to change these laws there is no need for an amendment or change of constitution.
As for the austrian neutrality: I for many years was of the wrong opinion that it is in the austrian constitution. But when you read it, there is no mention of it. The neutrality law is a seperate law. Seperate from the constitution, but at the same level.
So yes it would need most of the members of parliament to vote for a change of the neutrality law, but the neutrality law is not saying anything about espionage. This could be dealt with in the normal code of law.
Which §319 basically already does... The only thing would be that some agencies could claim that they are not military intelligence agencies.
The civillian ones aren't really forbidden unless they act to the detriment of austria or it's relations.
Then again everything you listed for the russian intelligence agencies -> "disrupting western life and ideology" could be seen as to the detriment of the relations between austria and other countries. So it's against the law too.
The biggest problem is getting rid of them, and actually executing the laws that are there for these purposes and prosecuting their nonobedience...
(and that's where austria is severely lacking sadly)
11:05: "Austria's 3rd largest party, the freedom party" - According to current polls it will be the largest party in this year's elections in autumn.
The flag covering Austria is looking more like the flag of Latvia! The Austrian flag is a triband of red-white-red without the coat of arms. The coat of arms are only on service flags.
I always wonder why Austrian Eagle (crest) holds Sickle and Hammer... the one USSR used on their flag
Yep, but unlike Latvia, Austria is not a shithole
haha at 5:02 this former NSA building is like 100 meters from where i live. It hasnt been a NSA station for like 6 years tho
Well the BvT hasn't existed for several years now, says a lot about the reliability of this video...
Can you put your sources in the discription? Nice vid but I can't check were you get the info from.
Im high af rn and this kinda freaks me out. Im paranoid enough already.
🥰Love Vienna
Capital Music of the World👑 Queen Sisi City
Sissi is from Bavaria, Germany 😉 and she hated Vienna
Being from a Czech city called Brno, which is often called a "suburb of Vienna", I absolutely love the city, and here, the impacts of Austrian (and German) presence from the past is very visible. I recommend checking out our lovely city aswell!
Do you have a list of your information sources to follow your thinking?
My favorite childhood vacation
As an austrian, I sadly can confirm this!
We do get the information in small chunks in the media but I guess, ppl here just don't care, as long as someone offers them literally any easy answer to their personal problems...
It's not only the last 20 years though. Pretty sure Vienna's been like that for the whole 20th century 😂. Austria is like a synonym for both diplomacy and espionage I feel like.
not the pic with Sebastian Kurz 01:16 😒 was only a few years in power and now they investigate for several offenses ..
As an Austrian, I can say you clearly mixing stuff
Macedonia is part of NATO. Youll need to add that
Macedonia is part of Greece, always has been 😎
@@DimiZ0ckt of course it was
I think you mean North Macedonia.
@@DimiZ0cktyou mean Bulgaria
@@TheOlenyash you mean South Sudan
Interesting
Very nice! So what category would Romania be? You said nothing about it😊
Has been since that way since WW1
Vienna Congress
Großartig...
I live in the 6th district it’s very nice. A good advice is avoid the 10th district it’s the Brooklyn on Vienna aka Huan Bezirk
Yep, there are a lot of license plates that start with "WD..." in Vienna (which means they are diplomatic vehicles ;)) and whenever I am around the OPEC I feel uneasy, for no particular apparent reason. LOTS of Russians here too and 2 of our main political parties (FPÖ and ÖVP) have links to Russia and everybody knows it and nobody seems to care. :/
Actually i think there are lots of people who are oblivious to this fact in vienna.
You do know that people working for international organizations in managing positions also get WD license plates? It doesn't mean they represent their countries or that they are spies.
SPÖ is equally linked with Russia, not to forget the communists KPÖ who received millions in funding
An example of the BVT corruption: an agent strictly vinculated with the Wirecard Case
Austrian here. A few clarifications:
- Vienna has been a hotbed for foreign espionage since before the 1950s, not just in the last 20 years. The 1940s movie The Third Man literally plays on this topic. In addition, to having more lenient laws, a major reason is, however, it's high density of international organizations (UN, OPEC, OSCE, etc.) that might make espionage worth it.
- It wasn't only Moscow that demanded neutrality be regulated in Austria's constitution, but equally the U.S. In fact, for Austria to be declared neutral was a fundamental requirement for its independence. Otherwise, neither the US nor Soviet Union would have given up its occupation which they had established for 10 years after WWII and would be have craved up the country similarly to Western vs. Eastern Germany.
- At 6:50, the map shows Crimea as part of Russia (but not Eastern Ukraine). Legally, neither is recognized by any Western nations and should both be shown as part of Ukraine. Even if illustrating 'Russian influence,' Donetsk, Luhansk, Transnistria, South Ossetia, or Abkhazia would qualify similarly and are correctly not shown as such either.
I live in Vienna and am ashamed for my country. Everything is going downhill and soon the nationalist party will win the election and war will also come to Austria
Don't turn around, oh oh oh,
Der Kommissar's in town, oh oh oh..
If any message can be translated to a string of 1s and 0s, then you can convert that string into one singular number. Wouldnt that be the PERFECT secret code? You just have to change the standard rules of how the 1s and 0s are created or which base you translate it with or even whether you want to use a base in the first place. You could use a different way of creating a number.
Then people trying to crack it cant use any cryptographic tools like letter frequency. I ould be just as hard as trying to crack a string of 1000000 A's. Nobody would have any clue how to start except maybe finding which base it is in, so thats why you dont use a base
lol
0:13 is in Budapest, St. Stephen's Basilica…
"Gremlin scented sphere of influence" is both qualitative description and a name pun. Congratulation.
It's not if you spell Kremlin right.
@@derhafiit is if you spell gremlin right
It's where winners of WW2 make deals. That was Berlin before in a way but even back then Vienna had similar role. It is important to differ Austria neutrality and Swiss neutrality. Austria was forced to become neutral or it would have been split.
I always ask myself is known espionage better than unknown or should we fight every espionage
Bra i aint never seem noone thats hella cool
0:14 is Budapest 😅
🕵♂🔍 Dive into the clandestine world of espionage!
Well well well even Mossad Agents is in Vienna
Austria doesn’t necessarily claim geopolitical neutrality.
Austria is neutral when it comes to military actions, but other than that it‘s definitely politically western and makes no attempt at hiding it.
There‘s a reason why Austria openly supports Ukraine and sanctions against Russia for example.
Austria is seriously considering giving up its neutrality, fiercely took part in pro Ukraine rhetoric, hoisted the Israeli flag on October 7th and has long shown its geopolitical alignment. There’s nothing neutral about Austria anymore.
It’s not at all. Austria is neutral. We where a nazi country. We where the catalyst who made Israel after torturing their people. We also stand with Ukrainians because me and many others had to house them and let their wives and kids sleep in our homes whilst the war started. It’s called being a good human.
Why is that? Who controls it? 🤔
isn't this just the the Tapakapa video...
Wow..
WE ON DA MAP (again…) 📍🇦🇹🗣️🗣️🗣️🔥🔥🔊🔊🔊🔥🗣️🗣️🔊🔊🔥🔥
I was born in Vienna and still live here, its important to note that what the east was "scared" of (Austria becoming part of the "west" if they do not agree to be a neutral state) still happened (see goverment support of israel, Ukraine etc.). Austria, especially the cities of Austria are completely westernized, also we have western media propaganda, and eastern news are blocked, 20 years ago we had good relations with the east and the west, but today politics has gotten so complicated, and politicians are pressured into condemning the east. Either that or the 95% of our politcians are very uneducated in actual history and they actually do not know any better, which in either way is very sad to see.
Also its not at all something "new" that vienna is a hub for foreign intelligence, this has been going on for far more that 20 years..far far more, other than that, great video
"western media propaganda" owa sunst geht's da guat, jo? 😂
@@frauleinbird Und wie oft bist du geimpft?
Wo kam auf einmal das ganze Transgenderthema her?
Die Propaganda funktioniert so gut, dass Leute wie du sie nicht mal mehr bemerken.
Alles steht unter Kontrolle der Amerikaner. Was Europa darf wird von denen bestimmt.
Dann zerstörens auch noch unsere Pipeline und tun so als würden die Russen sowas machen... und ihr checkt es alles nicht mehr 😂
@@frauleinbird propaganda kommt von beiden seiten du trottl
Ah yes, Austria history☠️☠️
According to surveys the FPÖ the the largest party atm.
I live in Vienna😂😂😂
CIA： what. They only centered one city?
Just a heads up your pictures and vidoes of austrian politcians are quite old some even as outdated as 5 years or more.
Who´s also Austrian and watching this??
Just to let you know - the liberal party NEOS has also worked on getting the "espionage paragraph" amended to include espionage against foreign entities.
Good video, but the BVT has been replaced by DSN years ago. Not that they are much better. Greetings from Vienna.
We just arrested a few chunes spys
Ha!!??
"20 years" - for centuries!!!
Guess you’ll never know who Austria spying for
Is this what Vienna waits for you means?
👍🏿
Home sweet home.
it actually is quite known, at least to the viennese
Me: lives in Vienna for 18 years (I am 24 now). * sees the video * hmmmm interesting interesting 😂
me, a viennese person, at the start of the video: "hell yea, that's so cool ,vienna is literally like a james bond movie"
me, a viennese person, at the end of the video: "what the fuck, this fucking sucks!"
Excellent overview with an interesting point-of-view :)
02:05 Maria am Gestade!!!!
Living in Austria is 100x better than living in US
Yippie die bledn Wiener sen auf TH-cam vertreten 🎉
Nice take on tapakapa's video