China spy as an employee?
Politicians demand an affidavit from Krah
April 24, 2024, 7:23 a.m
The horror is great: an arrest warrant is issued against an employee of the AfD politician Krah on suspicion of espionage. The CDU and SPD say that the AfD is a “security risk”. Krah had to clarify and submit an affidavit. The Krah case shows the AfD’s proximity to authoritarian regimes.
After the espionage allegations against an employee of the AfD politician Maximilian Krah became known, calls for affidavits from the European candidate became loud from the ranks of the Union and SPD. “The AfD is a risk to the security of our country,” said CDU foreign politician and member of the Bundestag Norbert Röttgen to the newspapers of the editorial network Germany (RND).
“Krah must now come clean. He must fully inform the public about his relationships with his employee and with China and Chinese officials,” said Röttgen. “Krah must submit affidavits in this regard. Voters must be made aware of the security risks posed by Krah before the European elections on June 9th.” Krah is the AfD’s top candidate for the European elections.
SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert made similar comments to Röttgen. He said in the “Tagesspiegel” that voters deserve “unrestricted clarity.” The Social Democrat continued that Krah “should now swear under oath that he has not given any information to foreign secret services. Otherwise, Krah would be better off in the Chinese People’s Congress than in the European Parliament.”
Jian G. in custody
On Monday in Dresden, the police arrested the German citizen Jian G., who works for Krah as an assistant in the EU Parliament. The man is now in custody. The federal prosecutor’s office in Karlsruhe announced this morning that an investigating judge had executed an arrest warrant against Jian G. for being a secret service agent.
According to the Federal Prosecutor General, he is accused of acting as an agent for a foreign secret service in a particularly serious case. The investigators specifically accuse the man of passing on information about negotiations in the EU Parliament and spying on Chinese opposition members in Germany. The EU Parliament has suspended G. because of the allegations.
“Instrument for autocratic powers”
The SPD’s top candidate for the European elections, Katarina Barley, also said that she saw the AfD as a security risk for Germany. The party is exposing itself “as an instrument for autocratic powers,” she told the “Rheinische Post”. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping apparently have great influence on the AfD.
The parliamentary group leader of the European People’s Party and CSU deputy Manfred Weber called on the AfD in the “Tagesspiegel” to disclose contacts to Moscow and Beijing. “If the AfD had a shred of decency, it would disclose the China and Russia contacts of all leading figures and those around them.”
Meanwhile, the FDP in the Bundestag called for the security authorities to take a closer look at the AfD. “The Krah case shows how deeply the AfD is entangled in the machinations of authoritarian regimes,” said the parliamentary managing director of the FDP parliamentary group Stephan Thomae in the “Augsburger Allgemeine”. “All actors involved in counterintelligence must be optimally equipped with personnel and technology, work together effectively and be particularly vigilant.” The threats from foreign espionage have recently reached a new dimension. “The AfD’s role in this is extremely worrying,” said Thomae.
AfD leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla want to meet Krah this Wednesday for crisis talks in Berlin. There will then be a statement. Krah recently came into the public eye in connection with a pro-Russian disinformation campaign. He and his party colleague Petr Bystron are accused of being involved in pro-Russian propaganda channels and of accepting money in this context. Both vehemently deny this. The FBI questioned Krah in December about possible payments from pro-Russian patrons.