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Věra Jourová, EU Commission Vice-President for Values ​​and Transparency: “It is of course up to the investigators and judges to decide whether it is corruption.”

Photo: Florence Lo / REUTERS

There is much to suggest that AfD member of the Bundestag Petr Bystron received indirect payments from Russia, as research by the Czech newspaper “Denik N” and SPIEGEL suggests. The politician himself denies the allegations. Věra Jourová, EU Commission Vice-President for Values ​​and Transparency, has now intervened in the affair surrounding the Russian disinformation campaign - and is not assuming this is an isolated case.

"I am convinced that what we know now is just the tip of the iceberg," the 59-year-old told the Czech newspaper Hospodarske noviny. She assumes that there are far more paid politicians or people with influence in society than was previously known.

"We see that the secret services are ready to reveal this"

"Of course we have no apparatus to determine who this is, but we see that the secret services are ready to reveal this and inform the public," said Jourová. "And that's a good thing." Regarding the legal assessment, Jourová said that there are different strict laws in the area of ​​national security in the various member states. This is not harmonized at EU level. “Of course, the investigators and judges have to decide whether it is corruption,” emphasized the Czech politician.

The disinformation affair is largely about Bystron: the AfD politician is suspected of having been in contact with the pro-Russian Internet platform “Voice of Europe,” which the Prague cabinet recently placed on the national sanctions list. He may also have accepted money. Bystron's name was said to have been mentioned at the cabinet meeting, the newspaper reported, citing several ministers. An unnamed government member said, citing the domestic secret service BIS, with reference to Bystron: "You can provide audio evidence of the handover of money."

According to SPIEGEL information, half a dozen European intelligence services were involved in unmasking the Russian influence operation. The Czech security information service BIS was in charge (you can read detailed research here).

Bystron has denied the allegations. These are “unproven accusations and allegations.” And: "I have nothing to blame myself for." In a statement to the party leadership, which was available to SPIEGEL, he wrote: "At no time did I receive any money payments or cryptocurrencies from a VoE employee (or any Russian)."

But this sentence raises new questions: The man who, according to the authorities, is behind "Voice of Europe", Viktor Medvedchuk, is neither an "employee" nor "any Russian": he is a pro-Russian oligarch of Ukrainian origin who is a close friend of the Russian President Vladimir Putin applies.

mrc/dpa