Country Reports on Terrorism 2012 - Austria

Overview: Austria maintained its diligence in its counterterrorism efforts and U.S.-Austrian law enforcement cooperation was generally strong. Austria's Agency for State Protection and Counterterrorism (BVT), the key counterterrorism agency within the Ministry of the Interior, noted that while the number of violent extremists has been growing in Austria, their overall number remained small, and it did not see a climate fostering terrorist attacks within Austria. The pace of approving and implementing counterterrorism legislation was often slowed by concerns over data privacy protections. Counterterrorism efforts were further complicated by a general public perception that Austria is safe from terrorism. The BVT said the threat from transnational violent extremism remained a concern, and estimated the number of radicalized individuals among second- and third-generation Muslim immigrants and among converts to Islam in the country at approximately 500. The BVT remained concerned by individuals who seek training in terrorist camps abroad.

Legislation, Law Enforcement, and Border Security: Parliament approved the bilateral U.S.-Austrian Preventing and Combating Serious Crime agreement, and it came into force in May. As of year's end, the agreement had not been implemented.

Austria implemented a 2006 EU counterterrorism directive on data retention on April 1. In an effort to accommodate widespread public skepticism of the directive, the Austrian parliament's justice committee heard concerns over the directive in November. Intelligence and law enforcement officials also responded to public concerns about the use of expanded legislative tools enacted in 2011 to monitor terrorism.

In July, an Austrian court sentenced an Austrian citizen to three years in prison for membership in a terrorist organization. The accused had planned a trip to Somalia in 2009 to receive terrorist training from al-Shabaab.

Countering Terrorist Finance: Austria is an active member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) regularly updates a regulation issued January 1, 2012, which mandates banks and insurance companies to apply additional special due diligence in doing business with designated countries. The FMA regulation currently includes 21 jurisdictions. This regulation implements Austria's new anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime requiring banks to exercise enhanced customer due diligence, and is based on the Austrian Banking Act, the Insurance Supervision Act, and FATF statements on jurisdictions with AML/CFT deficiencies. For further information on money laundering and financial crimes, we refer you to the 2013 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR), Volume 2, Money Laundering and Financial Crimes: http://www.state.gov/j/inl/rls/nrcrpt/index.htm.

Regional and International Cooperation: Austria maintains security partnerships with several countries in the region and the Ministry of the Interior has counterterrorism liaison officers in a number of Austria's embassies in southeastern Europe. Austria participated in various regional security platforms, including the OSCE, the Central European Initiative, and the Salzburg Forum. In November, Austria announced it planned to intensify cooperation with source-countries of illegal migration in a preventive effort against terrorism and human trafficking.

Austrian Finance Ministry officials conducted customs administration training courses for Afghan and other customs officials at an OSCE training facility in Dushanbe.

Countering Radicalization and Violent Extremism: The State Secretary for Integration visited the United States and Canada in August to meet with relevant officials, and to learn about best practices from successful integration projects in both countries. The Ministry of Interior's "National Action Plan for Integration" seeks to address social, cultural, and economic issues affecting immigrants and is headed by the State Secretary. The State Secretary also initiated the "Dialogue Forum Islam" to institutionalize communication with Austria's Muslim community. Establishment of a program focused on countering violent extremism and countering Islamophobia was under consideration at the end of 2012.