2024-05-01 12:25:25
The AfD is withdrawing Maximilian Krah from the election campaign after his employee was arrested for suspected spying for China. But only in the short term.
AfD MEP Maximilian Krah remains the AfD’s top candidate for the European elections despite allegations of espionage against one of his employees.
At a crisis meeting in Berlin, party leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla agreed with Krah that he should forgo his first campaign appearance for the European elections, which was originally planned for the weekend. In addition, finished election videos with Krah will not be broadcast, as confirmed by the party leadership. “Bild” first reported about it. There shouldn’t be any posters with Krah either. However, no further consequences were announced.
Krah said after the meeting that he had no personal wrongdoing to accuse himself of. Critics expressed doubts about his innocence. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution warned politicians and companies against naivety when dealing with authoritarian states like China.
Crisis discussion in the smallest circle
AfD leader Alice Weidel climbs into an elevator in the Bundestag’s Jakob Kaiser House in the morning with a stone-faced expression. Camera teams have set up in front of her office and that of AfD co-leader Tino Chrupalla. In the short term, a decision is made to avoid the hustle and bustle. The crisis meeting with Krah in a small circle scheduled for 9 a.m. was moved unnoticed to the AfD’s large parliamentary group meeting room in the Reichstag building. Everything happens pretty quickly there. After twenty minutes, Krah comes out alone and rushes down to the banks of the Spree to make a statement.
The conversation with the two party leaders was very friendly, constructive, but appropriately serious for the matter, he explains. He will not be there at the election campaign kick-off on Saturday in Donaueschingen. “But if you now believe that this is the end of my top candidate, then I have to disappoint you. I am and will remain the top candidate.” He will take on other appearances. He announced that he would like to separate from his employee, who is now in custody for suspected spying for China, today.
Chrupalla and Weidel don’t want to say anything
A short time later, Chrupalla and Weidel leave the meeting room with serious faces. No comment. Later comes a dry written statement: The serious allegations of espionage against his employee “and the associated damage to his reputation” were discussed with Krah. Krah decided not to take part in the upcoming election campaign in order not to put a strain on the election campaign and the party’s reputation. They do not mention any further possible steps.
“Any influence by foreign states through espionage, but also attempts to buy opinions and positions, must be investigated and strictly stopped,” Chrupalla and Weidel continue. Her group will not be able to avoid a public debate about possible misconduct by AfD politicians. At the request of the traffic light factions, “The threat to our democracy – Russia, China and the role of the AfD” will be discussed in a current hour in the Bundestag this Thursday.
Affair weighs on party’s European election campaign
Less than seven weeks before the European elections on June 9th, the affair is putting a much greater strain on the party than the previous reports about possible connections between Krah and his party colleague Petr Bystron, the AfD’s number two on the European election list, to pro-Russian networks. Krah’s employees are said to have passed on information from the European Parliament to China and spied on Chinese opposition members in Germany. Krah speaks of an unpleasant matter. “But the fact remains that I have no personal misconduct to accuse myself of.”
Political opponents don’t buy that. During the legislative period, Krah was the “loudest vassal of China” from the right-wing camp in the European Parliament, says Green MEP Reinhard Bütikofer on Deutschlandfunk. “In fact, I can’t imagine that Krah was unaware of what his employee was up to.”
The security authorities had probably had Jian G. on their radar for quite a while. The fact that the investigators have now intervened may also be because they did not want to risk fleeing abroad. He could not yet be reached for comment.
Changes are not easily possible
What happens next in the affair for top candidate Krah will also depend on what comes out of the investigations against his employee and whether he might also be incriminated in the process. Krah cannot simply be replaced as the top candidate. The AfD’s list of candidates was submitted on time and can no longer be changed. This only works if a candidate dies or loses their right to stand as a candidate, i.e. the right to be elected, for example in the course of a trial for a criminal offense. Once an applicant has been approved, they cannot simply withdraw from their candidacy before the election, according to the Federal Returning Officer’s office. Theoretically, a representative like Krah could at most give up his mandate as soon as he is elected.