AfD politician affair
EU Commission: Bystron case just tip of the iceberg
April 5, 2024, 1:29 p.m
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According to the Czech secret service, the AfD man Bystron is said to have accepted money from Russia. The foreign politician protests his innocence. Meanwhile, EU Commission Vice President Jourova suspects that Russian influence on politicians is more widespread than previously assumed.
In the affair surrounding a Russian disinformation campaign and possible covert payments from Russia to politicians, EU Commission Vice President Vera Jourova expects further revelations. “I am convinced that what we know now is just the tip of the iceberg,” said the 59-year-old, who is responsible for values and transparency in the Commission, to the Czech newspaper “Hospodarske noviny”. She assumes that there are far more paid politicians or people with influence in society than was previously known.
“We obviously have no apparatus to determine who this is, but we see that the intelligence services are ready to reveal this and inform the public,” Jourova said. “And that’s good.” Regarding the legal assessment, Jourova said that there are different strict laws in the area of national security in different member states. This is not harmonized at EU level. “Of course the investigators and judges have to decide whether it is corruption,” emphasized the Czech politician.
The Czech newspaper “Denik N” had reported that AfD member of the Bundestag Petr Bystron was suspected of having been in contact with the pro-Russian Internet platform “Voice of Europe” (VoE), which the Prague cabinet had recently placed on the national sanctions list. He may also have accepted money. Bystron’s name was said to have been mentioned at the cabinet meeting, the newspaper reported, citing several ministers. An unnamed government member said, citing the domestic secret service BIS, with reference to Bystron: “You can provide audio evidence of the handover of money.”
Bystron belongs to the Bavarian AfD regional association and represents the AfD parliamentary group as chairman in the Foreign Affairs Committee. He has denied the allegations. These are “unproven allegations and allegations,” he said. And: “I have nothing to blame myself for.” In a statement to the party leadership, he spoke of a defamation campaign and wrote: “At no time have I received any monetary payments or cryptocurrencies from any employee of VoE (or any Russian).”
For the time being there is no ban on Bystron performing
When asked whether he would advise Bystron not to appear at public AfD events for the time being due to the allegations against him, party leader Tino Chrupalla said: “He has to decide that himself.” The co-chairman, who leads the party and the AfD parliamentary group together with Alice Weidel, said that everything else would be decided next week. Bystron will join the Federal Executive Board’s weekly telephone conference on Monday morning, where he can then answer any outstanding questions.
Last summer, the AfD voted Bystron second on its list of candidates for the European elections on June 9th. The top candidate is MEP Maximilian Krah from Saxony. On Thursday he advised Bystron to initially concentrate on clarification and to avoid public appearances. Krah emphasized that in his case, not even the Czech secret service claimed that he had accepted money.
The Bundestag Interior Committee will also deal with the matter, which intelligence services from several European countries are involved in clarifying, next Wednesday. As the committee announced on Friday, the federal government will then report on its findings on “Voice of Europe” and Russian disinformation campaigns in Germany.