The Green party member Valentin Lippmann raised concerns in the Saxony State Parliament about potential corruption within the AfD party, accusing them of being a front for Moscow and Beijing. This comes in light of scandals involving AfD members cooperating with foreign governments, such as the EU candidate Maximilian Krah’s employee who collected sensitive information for China. Another AfD politician is suspected of receiving money from a pro-Russian network. Additionally, a Saxon AfD parliamentarian is under scrutiny for not disclosing his ownership of a large agricultural business in Belarus, despite praising the dictatorship of Alexander Lukashenko in parliament.
The Social Democrats and Greens are calling for investigations into money flowing from authoritarian states to Germany, as they believe the AfD poses a security risk to the country. The SPD leader Henning Homann referred to the scandals as potential acts of treason, urging the state government to consider imposing travel bans on individuals who are seen as acting in favor of Russia or China. The AfD’s invitation of Maximilian Krah, despite the scandal, has sparked criticism from opposition parties, with concerns over his access to sensitive data through European Parliament committees.
The Left party representative Kerstin Köditz highlighted the AfD’s connections to dictatorships, criticizing their lack of stance against such regimes. She expressed doubts whether the state parliament is the appropriate place for discussing the AfD’s scandals, suggesting that a ban on the party might be considered in the future. The Minister of the Interior emphasized the growing security threats in Germany due to espionage, sabotage, disinformation, and propaganda from foreign actors. The AfD has refuted the accusations and dismissed the allegations as political attacks.
Former AfD member Roland Ulbrich accused other parties of holding a propaganda event during the parliamentary discussions and criticized the handling of the investigations by the public prosecutor’s office as political bias. Ulbrich, who left the AfD earlier in the year after facing expulsion proceedings, defended his actions and is now running as a candidate in the upcoming state election with support from the party’s local chapter in Nordsachsen. The Interior Minister rejected claims of political motives behind the investigations, emphasizing the authorities’ commitment to safeguarding the country’s security.
