German prosecutors ordered an investigation of the Brussels offices of a member of the European Parliament for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) on Tuesday after an aide was in Germany previous month on doubt of espionage for China.
The case of the aide to Maximilian Krah has led to spreading of worries, in Europe about being prone to Chinese spying activities. Germany also previous month arrested three people over funnelling sensitive technology to China for military purposes. It has also dented AfD support in polls before elections for the European assembly in June. Krah is the AfD’s lead candidate.
“The measures are part of the proceedings in opposition to Jian G. on suspicion of acting as an intelligence agent,” the German prosecutors revealed, adding authorities had investigated both Krah’s office and that of the former aide. One of the former aide’s flats in Brussels had been searched on April 24, added the prosecutors in Karlsruhe.
Krah confirmed the investigations of his former aide’s office on social media platform X. This was to be anticipated after his arrest and is therefore not at all astonishing… Neither I nor other employees are impacted by this,” he penned down. At the time of the arrest, Krah said he recognised and understood about the arrest from the media and did not confirm personal wrongdoing.