German lawmakers assail far-right party over alleged China, Russia links following spying arrest

BERLIN — The German government and opposition lawmakers assailed the far-right Alternative for Germany for its alleged closeness to Russia and China Thursday after an assistant to a legislator for the party was arrested on suspicion of spying for Beijing. This week’s arrest of an aide to European Parliament lawmaker Maximilian Krah cast an unflattering light on the Alternative for Germany, or AfD, which has long faced criticism for Russia-friendly positions. that is prepared eagerly to take up every narrative from China and Russia and spread it,” Konstantin Kuhle of the Free Democrats, one of the parties in the coalition government, told a debate in the German parliament in which mainstream lawmakers lined up to criticize the AfD. “So one must say very clearly: AfD is a weak point in German democracy when it comes to our defense of our liberal democracy.” A lawmaker with the conservative opposition Christian Democrats, Marc Henrichmann, accused the AfD of “betraying and selling out the German people.” He referred to recent allegations involving the party as “Russia today, China tomorrow.” AfD lawmaker Stefan Keuter accused mainstream politicians of trying to “distract from your own political failure” with help from security services, portraying his party as the victim of a campaign. 2 on the AfD’s list for the European Parliament election, Petr Bystron, earlier this month denied allegations in a Czech daily that he may have received money from a pro-Russian network.