The Bundestag condemned AdH politicians for “treason” and ties to Moscow

Fractions of the three parties of the German coalition government initiated a special session of the country’s parliament at which information from the Czech mass media was discussed. First of all, it was about the main candidate of “Alternatives for Germany” (AdG) for the elections to the European Parliament, Maksimilian Kra, as well as the second candidate on the party’s list, Petre Bystrone.

Both right-wing populist politicians gave an interview to the Voice of Europe platform, against which the Czech government imposed sanctions in March on the legal entity of the same name on suspicion of influence operations in the interests of the Kremlin. According to the Denik N newspaper, Bystron apparently received money for this from a pro-Russian network.

Deputies of all other factions of the Bundestag accused AdG of “closeness to Russia and betrayal of German interests”. Christophe de Vries, an expert on internal affairs of the CDU faction, stated that many AdG deputies are in the service of Russia, both for money and without payment. The deputy emphasized that in their person “Putin found useful idiots and performers in Germany.”

Bystron was not present at the meeting. Many speakers emphasized the importance of the presumption of innocence, but pointed to the principled closeness of the AdG to Russia. The vice-chairman of the SPD faction, Dirk Wiese, called on the AdG to use the meeting to explain why Petr Bystron went to Belarus. The AdG deputy went to this country, although he officially announced his visit to Lithuania.

Wiese emphasized that AdH politicians are constantly present as observers at elections in countries where members of the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) are not allowed. The deputy told the AdH politicians present: “You were elected democratically, but you are not democratic. You are the mouthpiece of dictatorships.”

On behalf of the AdG, the vice-chairman of the parliamentary faction, Stefan Koiter, called Bystron’s accusations “a witch hunt.” According to him, Bystron was not involved in anything. SPD MP Maya Wallshteyn, in turn, reminded Koiter about the photos of a zigging Hitler, which he distributed on WhatsApp social networks.

Other deputies blamed AdG for participating in Russian disinformation campaigns. FSDP expert on internal affairs, Konstantin Kule, expressed concern that Russia’s systematic attempts to undermine democracy in Germany are not being taken seriously enough. He called the cases of Kra and Bystron only “the tip of the iceberg”, since AdH closely cooperates with the Kremlin.

• At the end of March, the German publication Der Spiegel wrote that the Czech government had uncovered a major operation to spread Russian influence in six European countries. It is claimed that through the network created with the help of the special services, right-wing politicians were financed, including, probably, from Alternative for Germany.
• The Der Spiegel publication claimed that the Voice of Europe, which owns the news site of the same name, played an important role as an intermediate link in the financing of candidates for the European Parliament elections who showed sympathy for Moscow.
• As noted, the Voice of Europe portal did not respond to requests from the German publication.