Far-right AfD reeling as German lawmakers slam party over espionage, corruption allegations – POLITICO

Dirk Wiese, a lawmaker from Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), accused the AfD of “feigned patriotism.” He added: “It may not be your own country that you love so much. It may not be dictatorships like China, Russia and Belarus.”

The scathing criticism of the AfD comes after revelations on Wednesday that German prosecutors in the city of Dresden had opened a preliminary investigation into allegations that Maximilian Krah, the AfD’s leading candidate in the European elections, allegedly accepted payments from Russia and China “for his work”. as a Member of the European Parliament.

But for the AfD, these preliminary investigations may only be the tip of the iceberg. Earlier this week, German police arrested one of Krah’s parliamentary aides on charges of spying for China.

At the same time, Petr Bystron, second on the AfD list for the European elections, also faces allegations, widely reported by German media Der Spiegel, that he received €20,000 from people with links with Russian President Vladimir Putin in order to spread Kremlin propaganda.

Krah and Bystron have denied any wrongdoing.

The AfD has been in turmoil since allegations of foreign interference and espionage surfaced. The party continues to occupy second place in national polls, but has fallen in the polls following a series of scandals.