From higher defence budgets to tighter control over social media, liberals are quietly backing a more muscular state they once resisted, arguing it is the price of keeping European freedoms alive.
Behind the friendly “pizza comunista” and open-door consultations lies a party that still hails Marx, Engels and Lenin and wants Austria out of the EU, raising awkward questions for voters who back its housing fixes but ignore its revolutionary long game.
Austrian expert on Russian hybrid warfare Pichler warns that Austria’s cult‑like neutrality and apathetic middle class have turned the country into a playground for Kremlin spin.
It’s time to recognise that NGOs and civic space are not simply “shrinking” across Europe. As our report shows, it is being actively restricted by anti-rights actors seeking to promote their agendas, silence debate, and exclude communities whose rights they seek to undermine.
Interview with Anna Thalhammer, who exposed Austrian journalists suspected of working for Moscow, why the country treats Russian espionage so casually, and how its history has shaped this attitude.