An aide to a far-right European candidate has been arrested in Germany on charges of spying for China.

New scandal related to espionage in the European Parliament. A parliamentary assistant to German far-right candidate Maximilian Krahn has been arrested by that country’s judicial authorities on charges of spying for China. Alternative for Germany MEPs have assured that they have no knowledge of what happened, while the European Parliament has suspended the adviser with immediate effect given the seriousness of the allegations.

This is not the first controversy to surround the German far-right candidate, who bodes well for next June’s elections. Krah is also under investigation by Belgian authorities for allegedly receiving payments from Russia. The case analyzes the contacts of MEPs from several countries – Germany, France, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Hungary – with Vladimir Putin’s regime to promote Russian propaganda. The name of Krah has been revealed.

In the case of his assistant, German media reports suggest that authorities suspect Jian Guo provided information to China about matters related to opponents and the European Parliament in the country where he works for Krahn. . According to the German Television Network (ARD), the man had presented himself as an informant to German authorities several years earlier, who had suspected him of being a double agent from the beginning.

The far-right MEP has assured that he learned from the press about his colleague’s arrest, which coincides with the celebration of the legislature’s last plenary session in Strasbourg. “I have no further information,” he distanced himself from, before assuring in the same message on X (formerly Twitter) that “spying for a foreign state is a serious charge.” “If the allegations are found to be true, the employment relationship will be terminated immediately,” he said.

However, the European Parliament stepped forward and suspended Jian Guo “with immediate effect” given the “seriousness of the allegations.” A spokesperson for the European Parliament says, “Parliament will cooperate with the competent authorities and take relevant follow-up action.”