Berlin – CDU parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn has demanded that AfD party leader Alice Weidel address mounting allegations of espionage on behalf of Russia, characterizing the suspicion as “serious.” Spahn’s call for clarification comes amid accusations that the right-wing extremist party is abusing parliamentary inquiry rights to gather intelligence on germany’s critical infrastructure.
The controversy stems from concerns raised by Thuringia’s Interior Minister George Maier, who alleges the AfD is deliberately using parliamentary questions to obtain information regarding sensitive areas like energy supply, transportation, and police resources. According to Maier, Thuringia alone has seen 47 such requests in the last twelve months. Several federal and state security experts share these concerns.
“the suspicion of spying for the ex-KGB spy Putin in the Bundestag is serious,” Spahn told the “Rheinische Post,” referencing Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin’s past with the Soviet intelligence agency. He continued, stating that if parliamentary rights are “abused to provide foreign dictators with security-related information, it is a betrayal of our fatherland.” Spahn cited numerous incidents within the AfD as evidence of the party’s “proximity to Putin.”
Bernd Baumann,the AfD parliamentary group’s first managing director,dismissed the allegations as “crazy suspicions,” claiming the inquiries are motivated by the perceived deterioration of German infrastructure under SPD and CDU governance.
The accusations arrive as Russia continues its war of aggression against Ukraine, launched in 2022, and recall Putin’s earlier career with the KGB, including a period stationed in Dresden during the GDR era.
