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Petr Bystron

Petr Bystron

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AfD MEP accused of taking money from the operator of the Kremlin-linked portal Voice of Europe. Both the Bundestag and the European Parliament lifted his immunity. He denies the accusations.

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Editorial assessment

Context, not the score.

Cui bono: The Munich investigation into alleged Voice of Europe bribery/money-laundering (still unproven) and separate staff-expense inquiries for which immunity was lifted in May 2025 and February 2026 keep Bystron under scrutiny while he remains active. He denies the allegations and calls them political. No conviction; inquiries document exposure, not guilt.

Evidence level: Hypothesis. Sources: tagesschau (opens in a new tab); tagesschau (opens in a new tab); abgeordnetenwatch (opens in a new tab).

Evidence & methodology

How the record is sourced and how the score is derived.

The score is formula-derived (Factrail formula v1, version 1.0.0), not an editorial verdict. Read the methodology.

By the · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

Expert analysis

An excerpt; the full analysis opens on request.

Petr Bystron was born in Olomouc in Czechoslovakia and moved to Germany with his parents in 1988, where they were granted asylum. He sat in the Bundestag for the AfD from 2017 and was a joint lead candidate with Maximilian Krah for the 2024 European election (Wikipedia (opens in a new tab)). In March 2024 the Czech government sanctioned Viktor Medvedchuk. It said he "runs a Russian influence operation" through Voice of Europe s.r.o. (Czech MFA (opens in a new tab)). Prosecutors accuse Bystron of taking money from the portal's operator and acting in Russia's interest as a Bundestag member. They also accuse him of tax evasion in at least five cases and fraud in at least six. The Bundestag lifted his immunity in June 2024 and the European Parliament on 6 May 2025. Bystron calls the accusations baseless (tagesschau (opens in a new tab)). In 2026 he joined the AfD trip to the St Petersburg economic forum (Handelsblatt (opens in a new tab)). No court has ruled. Hypothesis (labeled): that Voice of Europe money bought pro-Kremlin advocacy in German and EU parliaments. It would be confirmed by a charge or a judgment in the Bavarian case.

Questions people ask

What is Petr Bystron accused of?

He is accused of taking money from the operator of the pro-Russian portal Voice of Europe and acting in Russia's interest, plus tax evasion and fraud counts. He denies the accusations (tagesschau (opens in a new tab)).

What is Voice of Europe?

It is a portal the Czech government says Viktor Medvedchuk used to run a Russian influence operation (Czech MFA (opens in a new tab)).

Did Bystron travel to Russia?

Yes. Handelsblatt reports he was among the AfD politicians at the 2026 St Petersburg economic forum (Handelsblatt (opens in a new tab)).