Far-right EU lead candidate Krah probed by German prosecution

5 months ago 19

Shortly after the leadership of the German far-right AfD party reconfirmed Maximilian Krah as their lead EU candidate despite the arrest of his aide on espionage charges, new media reports have revealed that the authorities are looking into Krah himself.

On Wednesday, German authorities confirmed media reports that the public prosecutor in Dresden had opened two preliminary investigations against Krah last week.

When questioned by the media, the prosecutor’s spokesperson confirmed that the authorities will look into “whether there is indeed an initial suspicion of criminal conduct involving bribery of a member of parliament.”

The prosecution is focused on alleged payments from Russian and Chinese sources, prompted by “the current public reporting.”

Last week, Spiegel and ZDF reported that Krah was questioned by the FBI for his contacts with Russia, presenting him with suspicious text messages alluding to the resumption of “compensation for technical expenditures.”

Reports of Krah’s close relationship with China have been around for a while. Party sources said Krah was warned “three years ago against getting too close to the Chinese,” Bild wrote.

While one of Krah’s parliamentary assistants was arrested for the suspicion of working for the Chinese intelligence service, the authorities explained that this investigation was unrelated to that case.

For Krah, the investigations came “as expected and routine given the press situation.”

“We are still in the realm of assumptions and insinuations,” he stated on X.

(Kjeld Neubert | Euractiv.de)