Press
The AfD’s top candidate Maximilian Krah is withdrawing from the EU election campaign for the time being. Meanwhile, the evidence against Bystron, second on the list, is increasing.
Update from April 28th, 8:24 a.m: After the allegations against Krah, the AfD lost support in surveys. In the “European election trend”, which the opinion research institute Insa for BamS raised, the party got 17 percent this week. That is two percentage points less than in an Insa survey for the news portal T Online two weeks ago.
AfD puts Krah out cold: Documents reveal Kremlin plans for influence
First report: Berlin – The party leadership of the partly right-wing extremist AfD has temporarily withdrawn its top candidate Maximilian Krah from the campaign for the European elections because of the espionage affair surrounding his employee Jian G. As the German press agency reports that no more election campaign appearances are planned until May 1st. The specialist service table.media Citing an internal meeting of the Bundestag faction, reported that the AfD had strategically decided to take Krah out of the spotlight in order to take the attention away from the espionage affair.
Petr Bystron, second on the list for the upcoming EU elections, is also suspected of corruption. New research shows that the problem of foreign influence from Russia and China could reach into large parts of the party.
Espionage and bribery affair: preliminary investigations against AfD men Krah and Bystron
The Dresden Public Prosecutor’s Office is conducting preliminary investigations against Krah on suspicion of influence from China and Russia. In such proceedings, the authority checks whether there is initial suspicion. Members’ immunity would then have to be lifted for further investigations. Krah became loud Mirror and ZDF At the end of 2023, he was interrogated by the US Federal Police FBI, who suspected him of receiving money from sources close to the Kremlin. His employee G. is suspected of spying for China. Several years ago, G. is said to have unsuccessfully tried to apply to the Federal Intelligence Service and the Saxon Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Krah said that he had “no personal wrongdoing to accuse himself of” in the espionage affair and that he “did not receive any payments, benefits or other compensation.” The AfD politician fired his employee G.
In connection with the “Voice of Europe” network, which appears to be controlled from Russia, the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office has started preliminary investigations against Petr Bystron, who came second on the EU electoral list. Bystron sensed opposite the Mirror a “NATO-driven campaign” against him and the AfD. The former head of the Bavarian AfD also denied all allegations. But now he also believes that he has been bugged.
AfD “manifesto” from the Kremlin leadership shows Russian influence beyond “Voice of Europe”.
The Mirror published excerpts from an internal document from the Russian presidential administration in the Kremlin on Friday (April 26). These indicate that Russian influence in Germany and Europe could be much broader than the “Voice of Europe” network or the contacts of individual politicians. This “manifesto” was drawn up from autumn 2022 under the leadership of a high-ranking Kremlin official, who, according to research by the Washington Post is also responsible for disinformation in Europe. The Mirror refers to information from several international security authorities. The order came from Sergei Kiriyenko, the deputy head of the presidential administration, who, as a close confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is also responsible for disinformation campaigns abroad.
“No one can stand against a united people” – right-wing radical rhetoric in the Kremlin AfD “manifesto”
In the “manifesto,” the Kremlin describes verbosely and full of authoritarian rhetoric that Germany is currently ruled by the “Party of the Enemies of Germany.” This would have to be replaced by the “Party of Friends of Germany”. There is therefore no doubt that the AfD is viewed as the latter. The news magazine quoted from the final sentence how the Kremlin imagines the party’s path to power: “Together we will win. Nothing and no one can stand against a united people.” Greetings to the crown lawyer of National Socialism, Carl Schmitt, revered by many in the AfD’s intellectual, right-wing radical milieu, and his understanding of the people and the dictator. However, there is no solid evidence that the paper ever found its way to the AfD.
Does he know the Kremlin manifesto? No answer from AfD Thuringia leader Björn Höcke
The Mirror only identified “central content of the manifesto” in speeches by AfD greats, such as the right-wing extremist Thuringian state leader Björn Höcke. He therefore did not answer whether he knew the document and simply commented on the overlap in content as follows: “The same thing is not the same”.
Then there is Vladimir Sergiyenko, the former employee of the AfD member of the Bundestag Eugen Schmidt, who is said to have exchanged views with the Russian domestic intelligence service FSB about specific political actions by the AfD. Now the magazine researched: Sergijenko had also previously worked for Ulrich Oehme, who will be in the Bundestag for the AfD until 2021. In 2019, Oehme traveled with Sergiyenko to Minsk, Belarus, for talks with separatists from the Ukrainian Donbass. Oehme described this as a “faction business trip”.
“Voice of Europe” complex: AfD man Bystron believes in wiretapping
The alleged Russian influence operation surrounding the “Voice of Europe” network is also likely to be the responsibility of the Kremlin official, who was also responsible for the “manifesto”. At the end of March, the Czech news service BIS published findings from an international investigation against the network. Since then, little by little evidence has come to light that appears to incriminate Bystron, second in the AfD list: at the end of April he found out Mirror from Western security circles that the AfD man had complained to his contact that he had received part of a suspected bribe in 200 euro notes. You can’t spend it everywhere. Bystron denied everything to several media outlets. He has since confirmed this Mirror However, he also suspects that he was secretly filmed and listened to.
Accordingly, there should also be video recordings that show how Bystron received alleged packages of money. The Time, ARD and the Czech newspaper Denik N In mid-April, they reported on audio recordings that had been played at the Czech Intelligence Control Committee, in which Bystron was “rustling with money.” He also received this from a contact in the network.
“Too many coincidences” – How long will the AfD continue to support Krah and Bystron?
Krah never made a secret of his desire for a closer relationship between Germany and the Chinese party dictatorship. In the meantime he conceded to the star also stated that parts of a trip to the People’s Republic were financed by the state-owned company Huawei. He also duly reported this to the EU Parliament. In parliament, Krah voted against several resolutions that were directed against human rights violations in China – in some cases as the only one from the right-wing radical ID group.
Some of his party friends said that this was starting to be “too many coincidences”. table.media from the Bundestag parliamentary group meeting. But the party lacks alternative candidates, which is why they are currently sticking with Krah. After his meeting with the federal party leadership, he said: “I am and will remain the top candidate.” The AfD’s election proposal for the European elections can no longer be changed, even if the party wanted to. The EU Parliament will be elected on June 9th. (kb)