AfD leader Chrupalla supports his party colleague Bystron. He said he should continue to take part in the election campaign despite allegations of corruption Report from Berlin. In doing so, he is opposing AfD top candidate Krah.
AfD leader Tino Chrupalla has told Report from Berlin commented for the first time on the allegations against the AfD parliamentary group’s foreign policy spokesman, Petr Bystron. From the party’s perspective, he sees no reason to act for the time being, said Chrupalla. “This is a statement against a statement. Mr. Bystron has clearly distanced himself from having received or accepted money,” said the AfD’s federal spokesman. “And that’s why I trust and trust Petr Bystron’s statement.” Further details will be discussed together at the AfD federal executive board meeting next Monday.
Bystron, who is running for the party in second place on the list for the European elections in June, is facing corruption allegations. According to reports in the Czech newspaper “Denik-N”, the Czech domestic intelligence service BIS is said to have evidence that Bystron received money from the Russian propaganda platform “Voice of Europe”. Bystron denies receiving payments or cryptocurrencies “from any employee of VoE (or any Russian),” he told party leadership in writing on Thursday.
Dispute over appearance European election campaign
Chrupalla said that ARD, the reporting on the Bystron case refers to “dubious sources, to secret services”. There is currently no evidence or proof of Bystron’s culpable behavior, so he should continue to take part in the campaign for the European elections. “I currently see no reason to advise him against any election campaign appearances,” said Chrupalla.
The AfD leader thus contradicts the statement of the AfD’s top candidate for the European elections, Maximilian Krah, who no longer wants to appear in the election campaign with Bystron. Krah had also demanded that Bystron no longer take part in any appointments in the election campaign. However, this was “a private opinion of Mr. Krah,” said Chrupalla.
Russian disinformation about the European elections
The European elections will take place on June 9th. EU officials expect a large-scale Russian disinformation campaign in this context.
EU Commission Vice President Vera Jourova expects further revelations: “I am convinced that what we know now is just the tip of the iceberg,” the 59-year-old, who is responsible for values and transparency in the Commission, told the Czech newspaper ” Hospodarske noviny”. She assumes that there are far more paid politicians or people with influence in society than was previously known.
Preliminary investigations the Public prosecutor
In principle, the AfD does not tolerate a member of parliament allowing his position to be influenced by money, said Chrupalla. However, he assumes that the case will have turned out to be a media campaign in a month.
The Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office has started preliminary investigations. Among other things, it is being examined whether there is an initial suspicion of bribery of MPs in the Bystron case.