German far-right backs candidate accused of taking Russian money

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German far-right leaders have rejected calls for one of their top European candidates to stand down amid a Russian influence-peddling scandal, deepening a row over their party’s connections to Moscow.

Petr Bystron, a leading Alternative for Germany (AfD) candidate for European parliament elections in June, was accused in Czech media last week of secretly taking money from a pro-Kremlin oligarch as part of a covert campaign to spread Russian disinformation.

He was one of several European politicians that Prague’s Deník N newspaper identified, citing Czech intelligence and quoting anonymous Czech cabinet ministers.

Munich’s state prosecutor announced last week that it was conducting a “preliminary investigation” into the claims that Bystron had been part of the Russian influence operation run by Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk. Bystron was born in the Czech city of Olomouc, moved to Germany as a child and now lives in Bavaria.

AfD leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, who spoke to the lawmaker on Monday, said that the party “must assume that Bystron is innocent”.

Stephan Brandner, the party’s deputy leader and a member of its executive board, said there was “complete unity” behind 51-year-old Bystron, who is currently a member of the German parliament.

“From my point of view, there is zero truth to the allegations,” Brandner told Stern magazine on Tuesday.

While Bystron and others in the AfD have made no secret of their sympathy for Russia, they have consistently denied hidden motives — such as taking money.

Bystron, a member of the Bundestag’s foreign relations committee, on which he has access to classified information, describes himself on his personal website as the AfD’s foremost foreign policy expert.

His latest book, MEGA — Make Europe Great Again, is a collection of flattering biographies of populist rightwing politicians, including Nigel Farage, Geert Wilders, Marine LePen and Viktor Orbán.

The scandal comes amid heightened concern in Germany over attempts by Moscow to manipulate European politics and destabilise European societies as the Kremlin digs in for what it perceives as an existential struggle against the west.

In November, Hubert Seipel, one of Germany’s leading commentators on Russian affairs and a biographer of Putin, was revealed to have been taking hundreds of thousands of euros for years from sanctioned Russian oligarch Alexei Mordashov.

Government officials in Berlin have also warned that Russia is increasing its efforts to sow false information and undermine German support for Ukraine online — citing several large disinformation campaigns uncovered in recent months.

Speaking at an event in Mainz on Monday night after the AfD’s decision to stand behind its candidate, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the accusations that AfD politicians, including Bystron, were taking Russian money “should not be taken lightly”.

Kevin Kühnert, secretary-general of Scholz’s Social Democratic party, said Bystron should sign an affidavit that he did not take money from Russia. German voters, he said, needed to know “whether they can rely on the fact that we are dealing with right-wing candidates who are not on the payroll of dictators”.

The AfD — which nearly one in five Germans say they intend to support at the ballot box, according to the latest polls — is on course to more than double its seven seats in the European parliament on June 9, according to EU-wide data.