Germany: Afd Bundstag member accused of receiving money from Russia
Petr Bystron, a member of the German Bundstag from the Alternative for Germany party, denied allegations linking him to Russian propaganda and disinformation campaigns.
Bystron wrote a statement addressed to the party leaders, “At no time have I received any money or cryptocurrencies from any employee of the Voice of Europe network, or any Russian person”.
Bystron was referring to the pro-Russian propaganda platform Voice of Europe, which has alleged links to Russian intelligence agencies.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said earlier on Thursday that this scandal is linked to the hybrid war waged by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On Thursday, on the sidelines of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, Baerbock said that this approach aims to empty and undermine democracies in Europe from within by dividing societies and through disinformation and fake news.
She added, “And we see that these attacks have also occurred in Germany in the past, given the disinformation, given the cyber attacks”.
When asked about possible concrete consequences of this, Baerbock didn’t give a clear answer, but generally stated that it’s important to be more vigilant and protect ourselves from this hybrid war at different levels.
According to a Czech Deník N newspaper, based on intelligence sources, there was suspicion that Bystron was in contact with the pro-Russian “Voice of Europe” network, and noted the possibility of the German Bundstag member receiving money.
Deník N newspaper said, based on several ministers, that Bystron’s name was mentioned during the Czech Cabinet session.
The Czech newspaper quoted one of the ministers as saying, “We’ve obtained information that Bystron is a suspect, and the evidence is believed to be an audio recording”.
The Czech Internal Intelligence Service doesn’t intend to publish any audio recordings about the case at the present time.
A spokesman for the agency in Prague said on Thursday, in response to a query, “The general rule is that these will be intelligence materials that we don’t publish”.
Petr Bystron is a member of the German Bundstag, and is ranked second on the Alternative for Germany party’s list of candidates for the European Parliament elections scheduled for next June.
The Voice of Europe portal broadcast interviews with figures including AfD politicians Maximilian Krah and Petr Bystron, who are at the top of the list of candidates for the right-wing AfD party in the European Parliament elections.
