Petr Bystron
{{Short description|Czech-born German politician (born 1972)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{csection|date=July 2024}}
{{infobox officeholder
| name = Petr Bystron
| honorific-suffix = MdB
| image = 2020-02-14 Deutscher Bundestag IMG 3615 by Stepro.jpg
| caption = Bystron in 2020
| office = Member of the European Parliament for Germany
| 1blankname =
| 1namedata =
| alongside =
| term_start = 16 July 2024
| office1 = Member of the Bundestag for Bavaria
| leader1 =
| alongside1 =
| term_start1 = 24 September 2017
| term_end1 = July 2024
| predecessor1 =
| successor1 = Manfred Schiller
| term_start2 =
| term_end2 =
| birth_name = Petr Bystroň
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1972|11|30|df=y}}{{cite web|title=Deutscher Bundestag – Petr Bystron|url=https://www.bundestag.de/abgeordnete/biografien/B/-/518846|website=Deutscher Bundestag|access-date=8 February 2018|language=de}}
| birth_place = Olomouc, Czechoslovakia
{{small|(now the Czech Republic)}}
| death_date =
| death_place =
| party = Alternative for Germany
| otherparty = Free Democratic Party {{small|(2006–2013)}}
| education =
| alma_mater = School of Political Science, Munich
| website = {{url|https://petrbystron.de/}}|
}}
Petr Bystron (born 30 November 1972) is a Czech-born German politician. He is a member of the Bundestag since the German federal election in 2017 for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Bystron moved to Germany with his parents in 1987 from the former Czechoslovakia. He was a member of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) from 2006 to 2013.{{cite news|title=Petr Bystroň ends at the head of the Bavarian AfD organization|url=https://www.novinky.cz/zahranicni/evropa/454974-petr-bystron-konci-v-cele-bavorske-organizace-afd.html|access-date=8 February 2018|website=Novinky.cz|date=14 November 2017|language=cs|publisher=Borgis|agency=Czech News Agency}}
In 2017 Bystron was monitored by the Bavarian Office for the Protection of the Constitution because of his close ties to the Identitarian movement. On extreme right-wing PI-News Bystron wrote AfD had to be a "protective shield for this organisation". The German National Security Service named Bystron in his report about the monitoring of AfD as a party with anti-constitutional goals.{{Cite web |first1=Andre|last1=Meister |last2=Biselli |first2=Anna |last3=Reuter |first3=Markus |date=2019-01-28 |title=Prüffall: Wir veröffentlichen das Verfassungsschutz-Gutachten zur AfD |url=https://netzpolitik.org/2019/wir-veroeffentlichen-das-verfassungsschutz-gutachten-zur-afd/ |access-date=2024-04-09 |website=netzpolitik.org |language=de}}
Bystron and Maximilian Krah were elected as the AfD's top candidates for the 2024 European Parliament election in Germany.
Controversy
On 28 March 2024, Czech website {{ill|Deník N|cs}} and German newspaper Der Spiegel reported that Czech Security Information Service suspects that Bystron was also one of the recipients of funds from the pro-Russian Internet network "Voice of Europe" financed by the oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk.{{cite news|last=Pokorná|first=Zdislava|title=Deník N a Spiegel: BIS ukázala na německého politika s českými kořeny|url=https://denikn.cz/1389829/denik-n-a-spiegel-bis-ukazala-na-bystrone-z-nemecke-afd/|access-date=29 March 2024|website=Deník N|date=28 March 2024|language=cs|publisher=N Media, a. s.|url-access=subscription}}{{cite news|last1=Baumgärtner|first1=Maik|last2=Knobbe|first2= Martin|last3=Müller|first3=Ann-Katrin|last4=Rosenbach|first4=Marcel|last5=Schmid|first5=Fidelius|last6=Wiedmann-Schmidt|first6=Wolf|title=Wie tief steckt die AfD im Russland-Sumpf?|url=https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/afd-spendenaffaere-neue-enthuellungen-ueber-geldfluesse-aus-russland-a-0633977a-c07f-484b-b6f7-b826b52ed8ad|access-date=29 March 2024|website=Der Spiegel|date=29 March 2024|language=de|publisher=Spiegel-Verlag|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite web |title=Tschechien meldet Erfolg gegen russische Propaganda |url=https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/europa/tschechien-propaganda-russland-100.html |access-date=2024-04-07 |website=tagesschau.de |language=de}}
In April 2024 the Munich Public Prosecutor's Office initiated preliminary investigations because of possible bribery of elected officials.{{Cite web |title=AfD uneins über Umgang mit Bystron |url=https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/afd-bystron-chrupalla-russland-100.html |access-date=2024-04-07 |website=tagesschau.de |language=de}} According to Die Zeit, the Public Prosecutor's Office suspected that 20,000 euros were handed over at a meeting between Bystron and employees of Russian propaganda in Prague.{{Cite web |title=Affäre um prorussische Desinformation - Generalstaatsanwaltschaft München nimmt Vorermittlungen im Fall Bystron auf |url=https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/generalstaatsanwaltschaft-muenchen-nimmt-vorermittlungen-im-fall-bystron-auf-100.html |access-date=2024-04-07 |website=Die Nachrichten |language=de}} On 3 April, AfD leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla demanded a written explanation from Bystron for the allegations made against him. Maximilian Krah, another top AfD candidate for the European elections called for restraint in Bystron's election campaign.{{Cite news |last=Holl |first=Thomas |date=2024-04-04 |title=Die AfD hält Distanz zu Bystron: Auch Krah geht auf Abstand |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/die-afd-haelt-distanz-zu-bystron-auch-krah-geht-auf-abstand-19631198.html |access-date=2024-04-07 |work=FAZ.NET |language=de |issn=0174-4909}}
The Czech secret service (BIS) informed the Intelligence Committee of the Czech Parliament on 18 April. A Member of Parliament reported to Deník N about a wiretapped conversation between Bystron and the pro-Russian Ukrainian businessman Artem Marchevsky in Prague, during which the BIS bugged Marchevsky's car. At the meeting, money of 20,000 euros was handed over to Bystron. On the tape, Bystron was reportedly heard counting the money.{{Cite web |author =Andrea Becker, Georg Heil und Markus Pohl |title=Russische Einflussoperation: Geldübergabe an Bystron im Auto? |url=https://www.tagesschau.de/investigativ/kontraste/russland-afd-krah-bystron-voice-of-europe-100.html |access-date=2024-04-20 |website=tagesschau.de |language=de}}
The Bundestag lifted his immunity as a member of parliament and the LKA Bavaria carried out searches. Supported by eleven public prosecutors and almost 70 police officers, Bystron's parliamentary office in Berlin as well as properties on Mallorca, in the districts of Munich, Erding and Deggendorf were searched. Third parties who are not accused are also searched. Data carriers were seized “which are now being evaluated with regard to incriminating or exculpatory evidence.”{{Cite web |title=Immunität aufgehoben: Durchsuchung bei AfD-Politiker Bystron |url=https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/bystron-immunitaet-afd-razzia-100.html |access-date=2024-05-16 |website=tagesschau.de |language=de}}
Bystron apparently left incriminating evidence with party friends. In the office of the employee of another AfD MP, the police found a roll container from Bystron containing documents proving payments to him. There they found also a list of gold bars and an exposé about a property in Brussels that cost around two million euros. The police also searched Katrin Ebner-Steiner and another AfD politician to find documents from Bystron.{{Cite web |last=WDR |first=Petra Blum und Katja Riedel |title=Ermittlung wegen Bestechlichkeit: Neue Spuren im Fall Bystron |url=https://www.tagesschau.de/investigativ/wdr/razzia-afd-bystron-100.html |access-date=2024-06-06 |website=tagesschau.de |language=de}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{cite web|title=PetrBystron – Alternative für Deutschland|url=https://petrbystron.de/|language=de}} Official website
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Category:Politicians from Olomouc
Category:Free Democratic Party (Germany) politicians
Category:Members of the Bundestag for Bavaria
Category:Members of the Bundestag 2017–2021
Category:Members of the Bundestag 2021–2025
Category:Members of the Bundestag for the Alternative for Germany
Category:German political scientists
Category:German people of Czech descent
Category:MEPs for Germany 2024–2029
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