Espionage in the European Parliament? What kind of information might have slipped out? | DW News

across Western Europe anxiety about Chinese spying is growing a man working for a prominent German politician from the farri right afd party has been arrested prosecutors accuse him of passing on information from the European Parliament where he worked since 2019 and spying on the Chinese opposition abroad now this just a day after three Germans were arrested on suspicion of handing over technology with potential military applications German prosecutors say Jen G whom we can't fully name repeatedly passed on information to China about confidential discussions at the European Parliament German media Reports say this involved debates on security and defense implications of China's influence on the eu's critical infrastructure he's also accused of spying on people in Germany who are opposed to the Chinese government the German citizen has been working as an aid to maximilan KRA who sits in the European Parliament for the farri right afd party K said he had no prior knowledge of the arrest of his staff member he promised if the allegations prove true GG would be fired the European Parliament immediately suspended the alleged spy some say tougher measures are needed it's really time that we have a thorough investigation and information what is going on there that the so-called Patriots are you know um showing how we they are in terms of taking money from autocrats from all over the world a week after German Chancellor Olaf Schultz visited China Germany has seen several arrests over suspected Espionage the German interior Minister says the latest case is significant the accusations of Espionage for China are very serious and if it turns out to be true that this Espionage took place from within the European Parliament it would be an attack on the internal stition of democracy in Europe China has so far officially denied any involvement in Espionage but as the EU prepares for elections to its parliament in June this incident will add to Growing fears that Democratic institutions across Europe are being targeted by Foreign intelligence agencies here to unpack all the intrigues of this story is our political correspondent Simon young Simon good to see you again tell us more about what this man is accused of yeah CLA the the man arrested today is a German citizen Jen G and as you've said he is an aid to maximilan CRA who's a member of the European Parliament uh for the far right afd alternative for Germany party and what he's accused of essentially is passing um information from internal European Parliament discussions uh back to China and there's also been the claim that he was involved in spying on u Chinese people living in Germany so maximilan crra uh says that he knew nothing about any of this the first he heard of it was from press reports uh on Tuesday morning but he did also say in a statement that spying for a foreign state would be a very serious matter and if these allegations proved to be true it would result in the termination of G's uh contract now German media have been reporting that KRA was on German Security's radar uh because of his earlier links to China what more can we say there well absolutely the uh you know there's there've been ongoing allegations of links between the afd and uh Russian uh circles uh and uh you know this is just one more chapter in that I think the intelligence authorities have been concerned for a long time that these kind of uh relatively new far-right populist parties um are particularly vulnerable to the intelligence efforts and spying Espionage by autocratic States uh and you know these links with China and Russia seem to confirm that and Simon it's really not typical is it that that you see this kind of arrest in Germany let alone the day after three other Germans were arrested on spying allegations yeah it's already been an extraordinary week in terms of uh you know allegations of Chinese Espionage uh as you said just on Monday three German citizens were arrested they uh accused of uh trying to obtain milit inform about military Technologies and passing that back uh to Chinese intelligence um so you know arrests perhaps are rare because it's said that the Chinese approach has been relatively cautious uh in the past uh but I think domestic intelligence Services here in Germany at any rate have been warning for quite a while uh that the Chinese are willing to use illegal methods to promote their Ambitions politically militarily and economically and what else does this case tell us then about about how China gathers Intelligence on democracies like Germany well I think uh the authorities believe as I said that you know these kinds of parties populist parties are uh susceptible to this kind of infiltration uh and I think what this throws up is perhaps here in Germany at least a a debate about a need for tighter screening when it comes to parliamentary AIDS there have also been allegations that there's a a lot of links between parliamentary AIDS here in the bundestag and the far right scene so I think that will that will be one of the big things coming out of this case Simon thank you as always that is our political correspondent Simon Young

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Length: 6min 32sec (392 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 23 2024