The Austrian news agency APA reported today on an investigation by journalist Hristo Grozev, according to which Karl Habsburg, honorary chairman of the “Pan-European Movement Austria“ and former member of the European Parliament, was probably monitored by a spy network on behalf of Russia.
This shows a conversation between the fugitive former board member of “Wirecard“ Jan Marsalek and his Bulgarian contact Orlin Rusev, who was analyzed by the British authorities, Grozev says in the newsletter of the newly created Austrian online media “Sega“ („Jetzt“), writes APA.
In 2021, during repairs, a miniature listening device was discovered in Karl Habsburg's sports car, the investigative journalist reports. Grozev himself became a target of the Kremlin and in 2023 left Vienna, where he no longer felt safe, recalls APA. The journalist assumes that the device was planted by the network that spied on him.
It is assumed that Karl Habsburg was listened to for a month and a half, with Grozev assuming that the spies were probably not aware of who owned the car, since the two were friends or their interests were directed at Habsburg.
Grozev informed Habsburg about the listening device mentioned in the conversation, and he turned to the Austrian Directorate for State Security and Intelligence, which is now investigating the case.