After Axel Fischer, a member of the CDU, the Thuringian Mark Hauptmann comes under fire.
He is said to have received high advertising payments.
Now he is resigning from his mandate.
Update from March 11, 4 p.m.:
The Thuringian CDU MP Mark Hauptmann expressed himself in the
world
on the lobbying allegations.
The suspicions "I strongly disagree," he said.
"I never got any money, and there was never any influence on my political actions." Advertisements from Azerbaijan, Taiwan and Vietnam had appeared in a Thuringian regional newspaper published by Hauptmann
(see first report)
.
Hauptmann went on to explain: "Of course one can argue about whether it was politically wise to place these ads," said the 36-year-old.
“However, at no point have these ads influenced my political decisions - that's something I value.
“Hauptmann made it clear to the newspaper that he had never received any money from Azerbaijan.
Hauptmann justified his commitment in connection with Azerbaijan, which is known for its authoritarian government and its corruption, with his “political task of also taking care of the issue of foreign trade.” Hauptmann defends himself against a complete disclosure of his ancillary income: “I only work part-time with Germans medium-sized companies together, ”he told the
world
.
"Due to a legal and data protection obligation towards my customers, I am not allowed to provide any further information." This regulation applies "analogous to the confidentiality obligation of doctors, lawyers or other entrepreneurs".
Hauptmann's move took place one day before a deadline set by the CDU / CSU parliamentary group leadership had set the MPs: By Friday evening they must declare in writing to the parliamentary group leadership that they have not received any financial benefits in connection with pandemic-related transactions.
CDU member of the Bundestag Mark Hauptmann resigns after lobbying allegations
Update from March 11th, 3 p.m.:
After the lobbying allegations, the Thuringian CDU member of the Bundestag, Mark Hauptmann, resigns from his Bundestag mandate with immediate effect.
This confirmed Hauptmann's Berlin office on Thursday the
AFP
news
agency
.
The move is related to allegations of corruption, which the Thuringian politician vehemently rejects.
The newspaper
Welt
had previously
reported on it.
First report from March 10, 10:25 p.m.:
Berlin - Apparently the Thuringian CDU member of the Bundestag Mark Hauptmann has also benefited from connections with Azerbaijan.
As
Spiegel Online
reports, he placed an advertisement for a trip to Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, in the “Südthüringen Kurier”, of which he is the publisher.
Azerbaijani authorities are said to have paid 16,744 euros for this, Hauptmann has confirmed.
It is questionable whether this money is worth an advertisement in the small local paper.
The CDU * member is considered a supporter of the regime and head of state Ilcham Aliyev, but he denies a connection between this attitude and the expensive advertisement.
Baku-Connection: Government of Azerbaijan bought positive comments
MP Axel Fischer recently got into the media for similar reasons.
The Bundestag withdrew his parliamentary immunity from Fischer on Thursday.
According to media reports, it is about allegations in connection with a bribery affair in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe: In the affair of the so-called Baku Connection, the Azerbaijani government is said to have bought positive comments from politicians in other Council of Europe countries.
Fischer is also suspected of having made positive comments about the authoritarian ruled former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan in return for cash payments.
From 2014 to 2017 he was head of the German delegation to the parliamentary assembly.
Baku Connection investigations largely suspended
As a result of the “Baku Connection”, the Council of Europe imposed a house ban on 14 former assembly members in 2018, including the CDU member of the Bundestag * Karin Strenz and the former CSU member Eduard Lintner.
The police are still investigating the two Union politicians.
Lintner in particular is said to have played a major role in Baku's “caviar diplomacy”.
According to the organization Transparency International, however, the investigations into the Baku Connection were in most cases closed with the end of the mandate of the Council of Europe's Special Commission at the end of 2018.
"The national prosecutors have been slow or not daring to investigate the suspicion of bribery and money laundering," said legal advisor Foldes.
In some countries, the allegations were not investigated at all.
*
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