Lawmakers accused of spying for Russia
Germany: Far-right politicians are charged with Russian eavesdropping. AfD lawmakers in Thuringia have come under fire for allegedly attempting to exploit parliamentary investigations to get private information for Russia.
The accusations were referred to by AfD as “bizarre conspiracy theories.” In the eastern state of Thuringia, politicians from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party have been charged with spying for Russia by submitting parliamentary questions on delicate subjects.
Members of other parties in the federal parliament, the Bundestag, have expressed concern about the claims, which coincide with the AfD’s deputy federal parliamentary party leader Markus Frohnmaier’s scheduled trip to Moscow.
Interior Minister: “AfD exhibits ‘special interest’ in sensitive data State Interior Minister Georg Maier told the Handelsblatt newspaper that AFD lawmakers in the eastern state of Thuringia had submitted 47 enquiries on subjects such as essential infrastructure over the previous 12 months.
Maier stated that the queries had required “increasing intensity and depth of detail,” and that “it is almost inevitable that the AfD is working through a Kremlin order list with its enquiries.”
Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s junior partner, Maier, a member of the Social Democrats (SPD), said the legislators had requested details on energy and digital infrastructure, water supply, and transportation.
“The AfD shows a particular interest in police IT and capabilities, such as in the field of drone detection and defence,” Maier stated to the newspaper. According to Maier, similar enquiries had also been launched by AfD lawmakers in other parts of Germany.
Maier’s accusations were denounced as “bizarre conspiracy theories” by Ringo Mühlmann, an AfD lawmaker in Thuringia’s parliament, who also accused Maier of attempting to “criminalise political opponents,” saying that such investigations were “a cornerstone of democratic oversight.
” According to Germany’s internal intelligence agency, the AfD in Thuringia is a “confirmed right-wing extremist”.”Putin would vote AfD,” claims Spahn of the CDU.
In the Bundestag, where the AfD is the most powerful opposition group, politicians from the CDU and Green group have also expressed concern over the party’s connections to Russia.
Marc Henrichmann of Chancellor Merz’s Christian Democrats (CDU), who chairs the parliamentary committee that keeps an eye on intelligence operations, told the newspaper that Russia was influencing the AfD.
“Russia, of course, exploits its obvious influence in parliament, especially on the AfD, to spy and pick up sensitive information,” he stated. Konstantin von Notz, a Green politician and the vice-chair of the same committee, also charged that the AfD was supporting authoritarian governments.
“The AfD harms our country, turns itself into the mouthpiece of the dictators of this world and carries their narratives into public discourses and our parliament,” he stated to the Handelsblatt.
On Wednesday, Jens Spahn, the leader of the conservative CDU/CSU bloc’s parliamentary party, told RTL and ntv that “[Russian President Vladimir] Putin would vote AfD.”
“The AfD wants a weak Germany, a Germany under Russian influence, under the influence of the warmaker,” he stated.The AfD refutes the charges. Bernd Baumann, the AfD’s main whip in the Bundestag, called such charges “crazy suspicions.”
He told the Handelsblatt that the SPD and the conservatives had allowed the infrastructure in Germany to deteriorate over decades. “With our enquiries, we expose these problems in the interest of the citizens,” he stated.
According to CSU General Secretary Martin Huber, Markus Frohnmaier, who has previously been accused of having close ties to the Kremlin, has also defended his planned trip to Moscow against charges of “treason.” Frohnmaier stated that he was only focused on Germany’s interests during his visit.
Source :DW News
One Response