Politicians from Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in the eastern state of Thuringia have been accused of filing parliamentary questions on sensitive issues as a way of spying for Russia.
The accusations come as a planned visit to Moscow by the AfD’s deputy federal parliamentary party leader, Markus Frohnmaier, has raised eyebrows among members of other parties in the federal parliament, the Bundestag.
AfD shows ‘particular interest’ in sensitive data — interior minister
Over the past 12 months, AFD parliamentarians in the eastern state of Thuringia had filed 47 questions on topics like critical infrastructure, state Interior Minister Georg Maier told the Handelsblatt newspaper.
“The impression is almost unavoidable that the AfD is working through a Kremlin order list with its inquiries,” Maier said, adding that the questions had demanded “increasing intensity and depth of detail.”
The politicians had asked for information on transport, water supply and digital and energy infrastructure, according to Maier, a member of the Social Democrats (SPD), the junior partner in Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government.
“The AfD shows a particular interest in police IT and capabilities, such as in the field of drone detection and defense,” Maier told the paper.
Maier said AfD lawmakers had also filed similar inquiries elsewhere in Germany.
Ringo Mühlmann, an AfD politician in Thuringia’s parliament, dismissed Maier’s allegations as “bizarre conspiracy theories” and accused him of trying to “criminalize political opponents,” adding that such inquiries were “a cornerstone of democratic oversight.”
The AfD in Thuringia has been classified as “confirmed right-wing extremist” by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency.
‘Putin would vote AfD,” says CDU’s Spahn
Politicians from the CDU and Green Party in the Bundestag, where the AfD is the strongest opposition force, have also warned of the party’s ties with Russia.
The chairman of the parliamentary committee monitoring intelligence activities, Marc Henrichmann from Chancellor Merz’s Christian Democrats (CDU), told the newspaper that the AfD was under Russian influence.
“Russia, of course, exploits its obvious influence in parliament, especially on the AfD, to spy and pick up sensitive information,” he said.
The vice-chair of the same committee, Green politician Konstantin von Notz, also accused the AfD of being at the service of authoritarian regimes.
“The AfD harms our country, turns itself into the mouthpiece of the dictators of this world and carries their narratives into public discourses and our parliament,” he told the Handelsblatt.
The head of the parliamentary party of the conservative CDU/CSU bloc, Jens Spahn, told broadcasters RTL and ntv on Wednesday that “[Russian President Vladimir] Putin would vote AfD.”
“The AfD wants a weak Germany, a Germany under Russian influence, under the influence of the warmaker,” he said.
AfD denies accusations
The chief whip of the AfD in the Bundestag, Bernd Baumann, said such accusations were “crazy suspicions.”
He told the Handelsblatt that the SPD and the conservatives had allowed the infrastructure in Germany to deteriorate over decades.
“With our inquiries, we expose these problems in the interest of the citizens,” he said.
Markus Frohnmaier, who has faced many accusations in the past of being close to the Kremlin, has also defended his planned visit to Moscow against accusations by CSU General Secretary Martin Huber of it being “treason.”
Frohnmaier said that with his visit, he was concerned only with Germany’s interests.
Edited by: Jenipher Camino Gonzalez
