Chinese spy, Russian payments… The opaque network of the German far right in Brussels – L’Express

It is a series of scandals which directly impact Europe, and remind us of its vulnerability to the aggressiveness of autocracies. Russian spy network in Germany or the United Kingdom, infiltration of a Chinese intelligence agent in the European Parliament, secret payments from people close to the Kremlin for elected officials in Brussels: these last few weeks have been particularly turbulent.

Among all these affairs, one political party comes up very regularly: the AfD (The Alternative for Germany), the German far-right party. Already at the heart of controversies after its rallies in the presence of neo-Nazis or its “remigration” project, the AfD plunges back into turmoil after the opening of investigations into suspicions of corruption and espionage. At the center of the scandals are three names in particular: Jian Guo, parliamentary assistant in Brussels, Maximilian Krah, sulphurous MEP and head of the party’s list for the European election, and Petr Bystron, his running mate. A look back at these three profiles which could well plunge the AfD, allies of the National Rally in Brussels and once announced by the polls close to arriving at the top of the European election in Germany.

Jian Guo, the parliamentary assistant in the pay of Beijing

This was perhaps one case too many for the AfD. Jian Guo, parliamentary assistant to German AfD MEP Maximilian Krah since 2019, was arrested this Tuesday by German justice on suspicion of espionage in favor of Beijing. “Jian G. is employed by a Chinese intelligence service. In January 2024, the accused repeatedly transmitted information about negotiations and decisions in the European Parliament to his client. In addition, he spied on Chinese opponents in Germany on behalf of the intelligence service”, indicates the German federal prosecutor’s office in a press release.

Suspended by the European Parliament in the process, there is little doubt about Jian Guo’s collusion with Beijing. As early as October, the German news site t-online reported that a “close confidant” of Krah was running a German-Chinese lobbying network directly from his office in the European Parliament. An investigation by the British magazine The European Conservatives, published on April 18 – only a few days before the announcement of his arrest – puts forward overwhelming evidence. The newspaper describes a parliamentary assistant already suspected by his own colleagues, due to his lack of mastery of English or German, his aggressive lobbying in favor of the Chinese Communist Party or even liaisons with unknown Chinese delegations in Parliament . Internal party conversations, consulted by the magazine, also reveal that Jian Guo would have offered AfD politicians VIP trips to China, would have very close links with the very troubled Confucius Institute, or would have shown a particular interest to attend private meetings between MEPs devoted to China-EU relations.

Questioned by The European Conservatives, another AfD MEP, Nicolaus Fest, argues that “Jian Guo is rarely seen or heard in the corridors of Parliament. No one knows what he does, no one has contact with him , and no one seriously thinks he’s there to advance the party’s goals.” All this, without any explanation either from him or from his MEP Maximilian Krah. If the latter has since fired him, this affair has caused a lot of reaction in Brussels but also in Berlin, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz deeming these accusations “very, very worrying” this Wednesday.

Maximilian Krah, the “vassal” of the autocrats

To employ such a parliamentary assistant required a sufficiently unreasonable MEP. A big hit with Maximilian Krah, a regular at scandals and controversies. Aged 47, heavyweight of the AfD in the European Parliament since 2019, this former lawyer is regularly singled out for his connections with autocracies, notably China and Russia. Accusations which became concrete this week, with the opening by the Dresden public prosecutor’s office of preliminary investigations into suspicions of financing from Beijing and Moscow. They must “check if there is a suspicion of corruption on the part of the deputy,” said the prosecution. German media also revealed a few days ago that Maximilian Krah had been questioned during a trip to the United States by the FBI last December about payments received from a pro-Kremlin activist.

However, the affair would not have taken on such magnitude if Maximilian Krah was not… the head of the AfD list for these European elections. Nominated by a very large majority by the members, the MEP is part of the most radical branch of a party already accumulating controversies. Climate skeptic, supporter of the great replacement theory and ethnicist theses, opposed to the right to abortion, the MEP himself described his vision of the world in his book Right-wing politics – a manifesto, published in 2023: “It is not Russia, China, India, Africa or the Islamic world that threaten our existence. They too are defending themselves against the universal claim to power of the woke West.”

Maximilian Krah’s statements on China nevertheless remain those which attract the most suspicion. The MEP voted in 2019 against a parliamentary resolution ordering Beijing to stop the oppression of the Uyghur minority, described criticism of Beijing’s human rights record as “anti-Chinese propaganda”. , or even assured that Taiwan rightfully returned to China. Enough to make a leader of the German Greens in the European Parliament, Reinhard Buetikofer, say that Maximilian Krah had for some time been “China’s most vocal vassal”.

Despite this already very extensive record, the accusation of spying by his parliamentary assistant, combined with his own legal setbacks, were too much for the AfD leadership. So much so that Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupallan, the two leaders of the party, were careful not to appear publicly in his presence, and would not take a dim view of the idea of ​​excluding him from the June election. Before realizing the problem: impossible for the party to return to the official list already officially submitted to Brussels. Maximilian Krah will remain the AfD’s first candidate for the European election. The party leadership therefore carefully asked him to withdraw from the campaign. He will not be present at the next party meetings, and his face will be erased from campaign posters. Funny head of the list, and funny colleague for the National Rally in the European Parliament.

Petr Bystron, the bulky number 2

Maximilian Krah sidelined from the AfD campaign, one could have imagined that his number 2, Petr Bystron, would take on the role of headliner to try to put out the fire. No luck: he too has been entangled for several weeks in corruption affairs with Moscow. And notably one in particular, which he shares with the inevitable Maximilian Krah, around the Russian propaganda network “Voice of Europe”.

It all started last March with the revelation by the Czech intelligence services that the online media “Voice of Europe” was in reality a sphere of Russian propaganda financed by the Kremlin, whose influence extended “as far as the European Parliament “. As part of this network, “Russia approached MEPs but also paid to promote Russian propaganda, these are parliamentarians receiving money”, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo clarified before the House of Representatives Belgian.

Among these parliamentarians is Petr Bystron, according to revelations in the German and Czech press. Supporting audio evidence, the German MP would have received 20,000 euros from the site manager, a certain Artem Marchevsky, himself close to a Russian oligarch friend of Vladimir Putin, Viktor Medvedchuk. And even if the AfD defended its candidate, denouncing “manipulative accusations emanating from foreign intelligence services”, Petr Bystron should also be sidelined from the campaign in the coming weeks.

The accumulation of these cases has in any case pushed the European Parliament to vote on a resolution this Thursday calling on the AfD to “declare publicly and without delay its financial relations with the Kremlin”. 445 votes for, and 49 votes against, including… those of MEPs from the National Rally. A sign that despite the tensions of recent weeks between the two parties, collusion on certain ideas still remains very present.