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AfD MP Eugen Schmidt on ex-employee Sergijenko: Continuing his work is impossible because of the “media campaign”.

Photo: M. Popow / Metodi Popow / IMAGO

AfD member of the Bundestag Eugen Schmidt announced in a press release on Facebook that pro-Russian activist Vladimir Sergiyenko would no longer work for him. This happened at his request because "the media campaign directed against him made it impossible for him to continue his work."

SPIEGEL and the investigative portal "The Insider" had previously reported that AfD employee Sergiyenko's proximity to the Kremlin apparently extends even further than previously known. SPIEGEL had already revealed in the summer that Sergiyenko was discussing with an ominous contact in Moscow how German tank deliveries to Ukraine could possibly be stopped or delayed. Now research has shown: He is said to have been in close contact with a colonel from the Russian domestic secret service FSB.

Sergiyenko rejected this. "The accusations that I am an agent of Moscow's influence are baseless and in no way correspond to reality," he told SPIEGEL. AfD member of the Bundestag Schmidt initially announced that he would not respond to “unsubstantiated allegations” against his employee.

Reporting as an alleged “fight against the opposition”

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In the press release, Schmidt described the allegations about a “spy in the Bundestag” or “an alleged secret meeting in Potsdam” as “fighting the opposition.” The media would spread false reports and “frame as much as they could.”

Sergiyenko worked for him to help Russian-speaking citizens who were allegedly discriminated against. Especially since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, these have been exposed to "massive hostility, including through media reporting."

He also announced that he had taken legal action against the “Bild” newspaper because of untrue statements of fact. He doesn't describe whether he wants to do the same with other media's reporting.

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