Contents
Read on one page ContentsExpand
Page 1Krah? Not there!
Page 2 “Everything is constructed,” says a woman about the allegations against Krah
Donaueschingen, in the middle of the Black Forest, is particularly known for two things: Firstly, Mozart once spent a few days here and almost became a princely court composer in 1786. On the other hand, you can visit the source of the Danube in the castle park. From here, Europe’s second longest river meanders eastwards, through several countries to the Black Sea. There, at the Ukrainian Danube ports, bombs keep flying, dropped in the name of Vladimir Putin. While there is fighting at the mouth, things are peaceful at the source of the Danube. And yet Putin and his Russia also play a big role in Donaueschingen on this sunny spring Saturday. The AfD is in town.
The crisis-ridden party has invited people to the start of the European election campaign in the Donauhallen: a glass but dark box whose event rooms are named after classical composers. Around 600 counter-demonstrators are standing in front of the entrance, their banners read “Alternative for dictators” or “Remigrate to your knees”. A police helicopter circles in the sky, hundreds and cavalry squadrons keep watch on the ground. The two federal chairmen Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla came for the AfD. They brought with them Bundestag member Marc Jongen, party philosopher, chief ideologist and author of the book The nature of spiritual knowledge. They didn’t bring: Maximilian Krah, their top candidate for the European elections.
“The whole thing is a complete catastrophe”
The AfD is in a worrying state precisely because of Krah’s contacts in Russia and China. Krah’s closest colleague Jian G., an “ethnic Chinese,” as Krah calls him, has been in custody since this week on suspicion of espionage. The Dresden Public Prosecutor’s Office has initiated two preliminary investigations against Krah himself into possible payments from abroad.
© Lea Dohle
Newsletter
“What now?” – The daily morning overview
By registering you take the Data protection to note.
Thank you! We have sent you an email.
Check your mailbox and confirm your newsletter subscription.
Number two on the European election list is also contaminated for the party. Petr Bystron is suspected of receiving payments from Russian sources. Bystron and Krah deny the allegations. On Friday evening, one evening before the start, he reported Spiegel: The Kremlin is said to have dictated a manifesto on the future of Germany to the AfD, and the Thuringian AfD state leader Björn Höcke is said to share it used it word for word in a speech. The question now is: How does the AfD want to campaign now, what does it actually want to advertise for?
The leadership has so far successfully ignored isolated calls from the party to recall Krah immediately. But many party members say they are not convinced by this. The anger is enormous. Patriots who now have to be called traitors? That goes too far for many people. The presumption of innocence applies, said Chrupalla in a TV talk. He didn’t seem really convinced about it. A regional association says: “The whole thing is a complete catastrophe.” The party leadership would have been expressly warned about Krah. Krah just think about Krah. Money, glamour, status. Actually everyone knew that.
Donaueschingen, in the middle of the Black Forest, is particularly known for two things: Firstly, Mozart once spent a few days here and almost became a princely court composer in 1786. On the other hand, you can visit the source of the Danube in the castle park. From here, Europe’s second longest river meanders eastwards, through several countries to the Black Sea. There, at the Ukrainian Danube ports, bombs keep flying, dropped in the name of Vladimir Putin. While there is fighting at the mouth, things are peaceful at the source of the Danube. And yet Putin and his Russia also play a big role in Donaueschingen on this sunny spring Saturday. The AfD is in town.