The Belgian police on Tuesday searched the office in the European Parliament in Brussels of Jian G., the parliamentary assistant of the far-right German MEP Maximilian Krah accused of having spied for China. The search was carried out at the request of the German Prosecutor’s Office, which also ordered, one day after Jian G.’s arrest, on April 23, that the home of the parliamentary assistant be entered, accused of having “repeatedly passed on information about negotiations and decisions in the European Parliament to the Chinese intelligence service and also having spied on “members of the Chinese opposition in Germany.”
The judicial action occurs less than a month before the European elections in June, in which attempts at foreign interference are feared, especially from Russia, but also from other powers such as China.
On Tuesday morning, the staff of the European Parliament facilitated the entry of the agents and representatives of the Belgian Prosecutor’s Office to the floor of the European Parliament headquarters where Krah has his offices, who, despite the scandal, remains the main candidate of the far-right formation Alternative for Germany (AfD) for the European elections. “When requested, the European Parliament cooperates fully with the police and judicial authorities to support the course of justice and will continue to do so,” the European Parliament has limited itself to saying in a comment to this newspaper. The Belgian Prosecutor’s Office has confirmed that the search, which lasted several hours, was carried out under the supervision of a Belgian federal magistrate. At least two observers from the German Prosecutor’s Office were also present.
The German Prosecutor’s Office has explained in a statement that it requested the search of the offices of Krah and Jian G. in the framework of the investigations against the parliamentary assistant and based on the “decisions of the investigating judge of the Federal Court of Justice and a European order research”. Krah himself, who for the moment is considered only as a witness, has confirmed the inspection, although he has specified on the social network any documentation or material belonging to the MEP is protected by his or her parliamentary immunity).
The search was something “expected” after the arrest of Jian G., commented Krah, who assured that it is not a surprise. “The striking thing, in any case, is that it has taken so long. Neither I nor other collaborators are affected by the measure, he stated.
After learning of the accusation against Jian G., a 43-year-old German citizen of Chinese descent who had worked for Krah since 2019, the ultra politician announced the dismissal of the assistant, but refused to resign from being the head of his party’s list for the elections in June. The case, which has convulsed both Germany and Brussels, comes amid growing allegations of espionage for China not only in the European Parliament, but also from other politicians, especially on the far right. Several members of the Belgian ultra-Flemish party Vlaams Belang have been accused of having allegedly received payments from Chinese spies in recent years. Unlike Moscow, whose interference is feared to seek to destabilize European democracies, in the case of Beijing, as previously with the Qatargate, The scandal of alleged bribery of MEPs and former European legislators by Qatar and Morocco, it is believed that the intention is above all to influence to achieve European policies or decisions more favorable to the national interests of those countries.
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In April, the US Department of Justice announced the indictment of seven Chinese citizens accused of computer hacking for their country’s intelligence service. They acted for years against US companies and government officials, but also against dozens of parliamentarians from other countries who support Chinese dissidents or pro-democracy movements in the country, including several Belgian federal deputies: in addition to the environmentalist Samuel Cogolati, in recent weeks It has been learned that at least two other deputies were also spied on, the Flemish Christian Democrat Els Van Hoof and George Dallemagne, from the centre-right.
As Cogolati announced on social networks, the Belgian Parliament has decided to become a civil party in the case of the Chinese cyberattacks and a judicial investigation will also be opened. In addition, Belgium has also recently opened another judicial investigation into Moscow’s attempts at interference in the EU, after the country’s intelligence services have confirmed the existence, advanced by the Czech Republic, of a “pro-Russian interference network” in several European States with payments to various actors, including MEPs of various nationalities, in view of the European elections.
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