Austria has long seen itself as a bridge between Moscow and the West — remaining constitutionally neutral since 1955 and hosting numerous UN and other international institutions.

But in recent years it has had to deal with a slew of allegations concerning Russian espionage.

In the latest, researcher Dmitry Erokhin was accused of having links to Pravfond, a sovereign wealth fund which is under EU sanctions. It was set up by Moscow and is believed to have funded disinformation projects and defended espionage suspects.

Erokhin works at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) near Vienna and since 2019 has written on Arctic navigation, Chinese investment in Eastern Europe, misinformation and conspiracy theories.

He has collaborated with three other IIASA researcher

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