An aide to a German member of the European Parliament, MP Maximilian Krah, has been arrested in Dresden on suspicion of spying for China, according to security sources.
Federal prosecutors reported the arrest in Dresden on Tuesday, without mentioning Krah by name. The suspect allegedly passed information from the European Parliament to China, prosecutors said.
They said the suspect was arrested by police in the eastern state of Saxony on Monday. The suspect’s apartments were searched.
According to the statement, he is accused of acting as an agent for a foreign secret service.
Several German media also reported that the suspect is an employee of Krah, the leading candidate for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the upcoming European Parliament elections in June.
Krah was initially unavailable for comment.
The announcement comes a day after three Germans were arrested on suspicion of spying for the Chinese secret service.
“The reports of the arrest of an employee of Mr Krah on suspicion of espionage are very worrying. As we currently have no further information on the case, we must await further investigation by the Federal Attorney General,” the AfD federal office said. Tuesday.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has described the new allegations of espionage as ‘extremely serious’.
“If it is confirmed that spying is taking place from the European Parliament for the Chinese intelligence services, then this is an attack from within on European democracy,” Faeser said in Berlin on Tuesday.
The accusation of spying on Chinese opposition members in Germany is just as serious, she said.
“Everyone who employs such an employee also bears responsibility for this,” Faeser emphasized.
The matter must be thoroughly investigated, she added, saying it is a matter for the investigating authorities and the judiciary. “All connections and backgrounds must be investigated. Our security authorities, especially the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, have greatly strengthened their counterintelligence measures.”
They protect themselves against hybrid threats from Russia, but also against espionage from China. “Current research successes demonstrate this.”
On Monday, two men and a woman were arrested in the western German cities of Dusseldorf and Bad Homburg for alleged espionage for the Chinese secret service.
At the time of their arrest, the suspects were negotiating research projects that prosecutors said could be particularly useful for expanding China’s maritime combat power.
