Russian spy claims he helped topple European government in Kremlin plot

Messages attributed to fugitive Russian intelligence asset Jan Marsalek claim he helped bring down Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, raising concerns about possible Russian interference in an EU member state’s politics. Kurz resigned in October 2021 amid corruption allegations, but the messages alone do not establish that Russia caused his resignation.

In messages to Orlin Roussev, later convicted of espionage in Britain, Marsalek said an operation had “successfully toppled” Kurz by seizing a phone belonging to Thomas Schmid, a former senior finance official close to the chancellor. The phone was seized in November 2019, almost two years before Marsalek’s message, and investigators found no independent evidence that he arranged it; the probe remains active. Marsalek, who fled after Wirecard collapsed with a £1.6 billion shortfall, is also wanted over fraud allegations.