Bundestag
MPs warn against Russian espionage by the AfD
Do AfD MPs pass on security-related information to Russia? Politicians from other federal parties warn. photo
© Daniel Karmann/dpa
The AfD is officially calling for closer relations with Moscow. How far do informal contacts extend? Critics see the far-right party as a security risk.
Politicians from the Greens, FDP and Union warn against infiltration of democratic institutions and espionage by MPs AfD. “For the AfD, the alternative for Germany is autocratic Russia,” explained Green Party politician Konstantin von Notz. “It is to be feared that the proximity of AfD elected officials to dictatorships such as Russia, China, Syria and North Korea is not just ideological.”
MPs are entitled to deal with confidential information even without security checks, explained von Notz, who is deputy parliamentary group leader and chairman of the Parliamentary Control Committee. This not only affects the Defense Committee, but also other committees and committees of the Bundestag – “also with regard to possible espionage activity.”
The CDU defense politician Roderich Kiesewetter explained that the AfD acts “in Germany as an extended arm of Russia” and as an instrument of hybrid warfare. “It cannot be ruled out that MPs or their staff who have access to security-related information will also pass on such information.” There are also indications that the Russian embassy is spreading AfD content. “Possible espionage cannot be ruled out and can only be prevented or stopped by raising awareness and checking the intelligence services,” said Kiesewetter.
The “Handelsblatt” first reported. The current background is, among other things, the classification of the AfD youth organization Junge Alternative as a confirmed right-wing extremist movement. Several politicians from other parties had expressed concerns about JA chairman Hannes Gnauck’s membership in the defense committee. When asked, the AfD parliamentary group said it had no intention of withdrawing Gnauck from the committee.
Strack Zimmermann: “Our country’s security is at risk”
Last week, committee chairwoman Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann asked Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (SPD) to take up the matter. “The committee members receive knowledge of sensitive matters to which extremists must under no circumstances have access,” says a letter from the FDP politician, which was also reported by the “Handelsblatt” and which is available to the dpa. There was a lack of simple solutions. But “the security of our country is at risk.”
The “Spiegel” reported at the beginning of February that AfD member of the Bundestag Eugen Schmidt had separated from an employee who was considered a pro-Russian activist. Green Party politician von Notz pointed out that there were also points of contact with the AfD in the case of alleged Russian espionage by a BND employee accused in Berlin. “Relevant travel activities also repeatedly raise serious questions,” said von Notz.