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Petr Bystron | |
|---|---|
 Bystron in 2020 | |
| Member of the European Parliament forGermany | |
| Assumed office 16 July 2024 | |
| Member of theBundestag forBavaria | |
| In office 24 September 2017 – July 2024 | |
| Succeeded by | Manfred Schiller |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Petr Bystroň (1972-11-30)30 November 1972 (age 52)[1] |
| Nationality | German Czech |
| Political party | Alternative for Germany |
| Other political affiliations | Free Democratic Party(2006–2013) |
| Alma mater | School of Political Science, Munich |
| Website | petrbystron |
Petr Bystron (born 30 November 1972) is aCzech-bornGerman politician. He is a member of theBundestag since theGerman federal election in 2017 for thefar-rightAlternative for Germany (AfD) party.[1]
Bystron moved to Germany with his parents in 1987 from the formerCzechoslovakia. He was a member of theFree Democratic Party (FDP) from 2006 to 2013.[2]
In 2017 Bystron was monitored by theBavarian Office for the Protection of the Constitution because of his close ties to theIdentitarian movement. On extreme right-wingPI-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.[3]
Bystron andMaximilian Krah were elected as the AfD's top candidates for the2024 European Parliament election in Germany.
On 28 March 2024, Czech websiteDeník N [cs] and German newspaperDer Spiegel reported that CzechSecurity 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 oligarchViktor Medvedchuk.[4][5][6]
In April 2024 theMunich Public Prosecutor's Office initiated preliminary investigations because of possible bribery of elected officials.[7] According toDie Zeit, the Public Prosecutor's Office suspected that 20,000 euros were handed over at a meeting between Bystron and employees of Russian propaganda inPrague.[8] On 3 April, AfD leadersAlice Weidel andTino 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.[9]
TheCzech secret service (BIS) informed the Intelligence Committee of theCzech Parliament on 18 April. A Member of Parliament reported toDeník N about a wiretapped conversation between Bystron and the pro-Russian Ukrainian businessmanArtem 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.[10]
The Bundestag lifted his immunity as a member of parliament and theLKA Bavaria carried out searches. Supported by eleven public prosecutors and almost 70 police officers, Bystron's parliamentary office in Berlin as well as properties onMallorca, in the districts of Munich,Erding andDeggendorf 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.”[11]
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 searchedKatrin Ebner-Steiner and another AfD politician to find documents from Bystron.[12]
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