Austria won’t expel any Russians over spy case – Kurz

Austria will not unilaterally expel any Russian diplomats in response to a case in which an Austrian army colonel is suspected of having spied for Moscow for 26 years, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Wednesday. “There will be no unilateral action by Austria in that direction,” Kurz told a news conference after a weekly cabinet meeting. Kurz has cited his country’s tradition of neutrality as a reason for not expelling any Russian officials over the Skripal case, even though Vienna is a major diplomatic center where more than 100 Russian diplomats are posted, Reuters said. “The relationship between Russia and the European Union is regularly discussed in European forums. That is where this debate belongs,” said Kurz, adding that spying by any country was unacceptable.