German parliamentarian Petr Bystron, who represents the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD), has refuted allegations of accepting bribes from Russian sources. These allegations were explored in an exclusive report by German journalist Alexander Wallasch, who secured a copy of an internal letter from Bystron to the AfD leaders.
According to Wallasch’s report, Bystron has expressed in a formal letter to Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, the two leaders of AfD, that he has never accepted any form of payment, including cryptocurrencies, from any Russian parties.
Bystron attributes these bribery allegations to a “defamation campaign” aimed at AfD candidates in the run-up to the European Elections in 2024. In his letter, he criticised the hazy articulation of these allegations and the unverified dissemination by different media outlets.
The German lawmaker has specifically pointed out two media agencies – Der Spiegel and the Czech platform Dennik N. Both of these outlets were the first ones to report on Bystron’s supposed collusion with Russia. They claimed that the Security Information Service of the Czech government had obtained audio recordings proving that Bystron had received funds from the pro-Russian media company, Voice of Europe.
Bystron dismissed the credibility of the Czech government and stated that the Czech Prime Minister, Petr Fiala, had no interest in easing the conflict in Ukraine. He urged the Czech authorities to disclose their wiretapping protocols and release the audio evidence.
Bystron is not the first AfD member to be embroiled in such allegations. Earlier in March 2024, Maximillian Krah, another representative of AfD, was publicly labelled as being a “part of the Russian propaganda apparatus” by Nancy Faeser, the Federal Minister of the Interior and Community in Germany. Faeser made this accusation in a tweet. Both Bystron and Krah plan to participate in the upcoming European Parliament elections, scheduled to be held in June.
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