He has already commented on everything - Petr Bystron sees the allegations against him as part of a campaign. At the same time, the Czech secret service is said to be in possession of incriminating audio recordings.
Berlin - AfD politician Petr Bystron has rejected new allegations in the affair surrounding a pro-Russian disinformation campaign and possible covert payments from Russia. “This is just an attempt to brew old coffee again in order to keep the campaign against the AfD in the media until the EU elections,” Bystron told the German Press Agency.
“Zeit” had previously reported that Czech authorities had presented audio recordings for the first time, according to which 20,000 euros in cash were said to have been handed over in a car. However, German security authorities are said to have only received information about the incident from the Czech Republic in written form.
Czech secret service provides evidence
Now, “Zeit”, citing joint research with “Denik N” and the ARD magazine “Kontraste”, reported that the Czech domestic secret service had presented evidence for the first time in the affair surrounding the alleged sponsorship of various Western politicians by a pro-Russian network. The new evidence incriminated Bystron. Accordingly, recordings of intercepted conversations were played to several Czech MPs last week. Bystron is at the center of everything. This includes, among other things, surveillance material from the Prague offices of “VoE”.
When asked what he said about intelligence information mentioned in the report, according to which he was said to have handed over 20,000 euros during a wiretapped encounter with a pro-Russian activist, Bystron went on to say that he had commented on both the “Voice of Europe” case “ as well as the alleged money handovers have already been stated in detail several times. There is no reason to play your opponent's game by repeating these statements.
Chrupalla: We have to continue to stand behind Bystron and Krah
According to Federal Chairman Tino Chrupalla, the AfD leadership remains behind its two party colleagues Petr Bystron and Maximilian Krah for the time being. It is clear to the AfD that there are currently allegations, but so far no evidence has been provided, Chrupalla told the German Press Agency on the sidelines of a state party conference of the Lower Saxony AfD in Südheide.
“Therefore, we have no way of reacting other than to stand behind them both as of today,” said Chrupalla, also with a view to the European election campaign. However, it is clear that opinions cannot be bought; that will not be tolerated. “These are clearly red lines for us.” The federal executive board wants to talk about the topic of Krah and Bystron again on Monday.
According to information from Belgian secret services, Russian-controlled networks are trying to help pro-Russian candidates achieve success in the upcoming European elections. At the end of March, following secret service investigations, the Czech Republic placed the pro-Russian internet platform “Voice of Europe” (VoE) on the national sanctions list.
The website is part of a Russian influence operation whose aim is to question Ukraine's territorial integrity, sovereignty and freedom. Among other things, interviews with the AfD politician Bystron and his party colleague Maximilian Krah appeared on the portal. The Czech newspaper "Denik N" had reported that Bystron may also have accepted money. The AfD member of the Bundestag has rejected this several times. Krah also denies having accepted money from the “Voice of Europe” environment.
European election candidates Krah and Bystron
Krah is the AfD's top candidate for the European elections, Bystron is in second place on the candidate list. At the beginning of April, Krah suggested to his party colleague Bystron that he should refrain from appearing in the European election campaign for the time being “until the allegations in question have been clarified”.
Krah now told the dpa in the Südheide that he is now convinced that the allegations are an attempt to “influence the European election campaign by secret services” and that one must defend himself against this and should not allow himself to be intimidated. He pointed out that the Czech authorities did not want to release a recording with possible evidence. This makes it clear that it is not a “real accusation”.
The SPD politician Katja Mast, however, criticized in Berlin that Bystron and the AfD could not refute the allegations of having accepted money from dark Russian sources. “This is doing massive damage to Germany and who knows what else is going on in the background.” The top of the AfD parliamentary group and the AfD are squirming like eels. dpa