State security: number of threats “in the high double-digit range”

The Directorate for State Security and Intelligence (DSN) has been in existence for a year now, replacing the recently controversial Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Combating Terrorism (BVT) and has undergone or is undergoing a “consistent reform process”, as the Director General for Public Security, Franz Ruf, said on stressed Wednesday in the Ministry of the Interior. On this occasion, DSN manager Omar Haijawi-Pirchner warned of threats “in the high double-digit range”.

Risk assessment for Christmas markets

According to Haijawi-Pirchner, these would basically be “ready for an attack”. There is currently no concrete threat scenario from radical Islamists or right-wing extremists, but a new risk assessment has been issued for Christmas and Advent markets, “which will have an impact on the police,” said Haijawi-Pirchner.

There is also a “strong scene” in this country in the area of ​​anti-state connections. In connection with a raid against the Reichsbürger movement carried out by the German authorities on Wednesday – according to the German federal prosecutor’s office 25 people were arrested – arrests were apparently also made in several Austrian federal states. Haijawi-Pirchner did not give any details, the communication is the responsibility of the German authorities.

Radicalization among climate activists

“There is also increasing radicalization in the area of ​​climate activists,” the DSN boss explained to journalists. These too must be observed, because it cannot be ruled out that there could be attacks on critical infrastructure. However, there are no concrete indications of planned actions at the moment.

As far as radicalized Islamists are concerned, they mainly gather in small groups on the Internet. As Haijawi-Pirchner reported, among them are “children aged 13 or 14 who are already largely radicalized.” When asked, the DSN boss mentioned around ten under-15s in this context, “who pose a great challenge”.

Many perpetrators in custody

A not inconsiderable number of the perpetrators are in prison or have only recently been released from prison. Observing or monitoring them is anything but easy for personnel, criminal procedural and technical reasons. So far, 28 case conferences have been held by the DSN together with the judicial authorities on known persons before their release from prison – many of them are still considered dangerous and keep the state guards busy.

Haijawi-Pirchner complained that the legal and technical possibilities in the area of ​​espionage and counter-terrorism defense are often not sufficient. Especially in the case of espionage, it is difficult in the technical area to keep up with suspects.

The director general for public security emphasized that with the DSN a “clear and organizational separation of state security and intelligence services” was achieved. 1,300 investigation files were created in the past year, 1,200 tips received by the extremism reporting office were processed. “Internationally, with great effort, we have gained a lot of trust,” Ruf stated.

Russian assets frozen

As part of the international sanctions imposed on Russia after the attack on Ukraine, assets were also frozen in Austria. With 1.7 billion euros “a really good value”, as Ruf remarked. The sum is at least twelve percent of the 14 billion euros that have been tracked down and frozen in Europe so far.

According to Haijawi-Pirchner, Russian oligarchs in Austria were affected “in the single digits”. 90 percent of the assets withdrawn were related to bank accounts or cash, the rest related to real estate and transport.

Sufficient staff

Ruf and Haijawi-Pirchner have rejected recent allegations that the DSN is understaffed and is making up for the lack of employees with administrative interns. “The number of employees was increased by 50 percent,” Ruf stated. Haijawi-Pirchner added that a new position concept had been implemented and “for the first time people were found outside of the federal job exchange”. Since an extended trustworthiness check and a multi-stage recruiting program must be passed for an appointment, the staff is appropriately qualified. The top officials did not want to provide any information on the number of people employed by the DSN. With a separate course for the protection of the Constitution at the University of Applied Sciences in Wiener Neustadt, the aim is to attract well-trained new people in the future.

The fact that the planned control commission still does not exist is “not an issue that concerns us,” Ruf concluded. There is “a stronger legal protection officer who is not subject to instructions”, the installation of a control committee is “a parliamentary process. We have done everything to ensure that this commission is used. We have fulfilled this part”. DSN head Haijawi-Pirchner commented on the subject: “I’m looking forward to the first day when the commission is there.”