A report by the EU Parliament on the use of Pegasus spy software in European countries has caused controversy. According to a report in the “Standard” (online edition) today, the European People’s Party (EPP) is trying to delete some passages. As a result, one is not happy about references in the text to the business connections of ex-Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) in the environment of the Israeli Pegasus manufacturer NSO.
The warnings about Kurz’s connections with the Israeli entrepreneur and NSO co-founder Schalev Hulio are “completely irrelevant and not part of the subject of the investigation,” said ÖVP MEP Lukas Mandl to the “Standard”. Hulio has now left NSO, Kurz had previously emphasized.
Several positions contested
Overall, the name of the former chancellor is mentioned eleven times in the draft report, according to “Standard”. Among other things, the text refers to the entrepreneur Siegfried Wolf as an economic advisor to Kurz.
According to “Standard”, numerous other parts of the 163-page report that do not concern Austria are also contested. This was shown by numerous amendments that had already been tabled in advance.
Criticism from Greens and Social Democrats
Rapporteur Hannah Neumann was not pleased with the “Standard” about the EPP’s demands for deletion. “The sentence in question in the report on Austria was never up for debate during the negotiations,” said the German Green MEP. “The fact that the EVP now wants to open this barrel shows once again how run-down the ÖVP is: it’s neither about the truth nor about protecting fundamental freedoms, it’s just about somehow saving its battered image.”
The SPÖ-EU MP Hannes Heide, leader of the S&D in the committee, also criticized ORF.at the intention of the EVP and with it the ÖVP, which had become known, to want to delete critical passages about the former Chancellor Kurz: “The reference to the former contained in the report Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, his business relationships with NSO founder Schalev Hulio and US billionaire Peter Thiel were never up for debate in the 15 months of negotiations on the final report.”
The report paints a clear picture of the status quo in Europe and makes concrete proposals for legal bases for the legal use and distribution of spyware.
Withdrawal of software company DSIRF
It was also announced today that the controversial software company DSIRF, which is also mentioned in the report and described as “based in Austria”, is withdrawing from the German-speaking region. The company ended up on a Microsoft warning list last year because its state Trojan called “Subzero” is said to have infiltrated several law firms, among other things. The Directorate for State Security and Intelligence (DSN) then began to investigate.
The activities are now suspended. The company management feels unfairly treated – especially since “Subzero” was developed exclusively for use by authorities to fight cybercrime. “People prefer to buy non-controllable software from third countries such as the USA or Israel – that seems to be desirable. That’s why we say goodbye to the German-speaking area with an enormous financial loss,” said the owner, who was only referred to with the letter D., to the “profil” (online edition).
Investigation in the EU Parliament
The use of the controversial spy software Pegasus in some countries of the European Union, which was uncovered in 2020, led to the initiation of the investigation in the European Parliament. “Governments of the EU member states have used spyware against their citizens for political purposes,” said the draft report of the Committee of Inquiry (PEGA), which became known in November last year. There are corresponding indications for Poland, Hungary, Greece, Cyprus and Spain.
