1985: The Noricum Affair

At the start of July 1985, the Austrian ambassador in Athens, Herbert Amry, informed the Austrian government of illegal arms trafficking by Noricum, a subsidiary of the state-owned VÖEST. Shortly thereafter, Amry died before he could meet with his informant again. At the end of August 1985, the magazine Basta managed to take photos in a Yugoslav port, which documented the export of Noricum cannons – the Gun-Howitzer Noricum (GHN-45) – to warring Iran. These had already been delivered to Iraq via Jordan between 1981 and 1983. In total, 200 GHN-45s were said to have been sold to Iraq and 140 to Iran. The scandal went public at the end of 1985, when the magazine published the photos along with further findings. Exports to warring states were strictly prohibited under the Austrian arms export law. It was only on September 27, 1989 that a parliamentary committee of inquiry was installed against the votes of the SPÖ (Social Democratic Party). In addition to that, the political leaders – former chancellor Fred Sinowatz, former foreign minister Leopold Gratz, and former minister of the interior Karl Blecha – and the managers of the weapons factory also had to stand trial. Almost all the politicians were acquitted (with the exception of Blecha) while management was convicted of having endangered the country’s neutrality.