The German TV station ZDF and the Der Spiegel weekly reported that Maximilian Krah’s Brussels office had acquired a pass to the parliament building for the man in 2019. According to The New York Times, Janusz N. (name withheld due to privacy laws) visited the EP premises a total of 50 times between 2017 and 2021, when he was arrested.

Krah, who is a member of the populist far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party confirmed to ZDF that his office had submitted an application for the pass, but explained that, “my former employee applied for the pass, probably due to personal acquaintance. His employment ended almost two years ago. I do not know the person you are talking about.”

“But Krah contradicts himself,” ZDF wrote on its website, pointing out that the MEP had told the Tagesspiegel daily that he had met Janusz N. four or five times as an “expert on Central and Eastern Europe”.

In an interview with ZDF, a representative of the Warsaw Prosecutor’s Office said Janusz N. had collaborated with “the Russian secret service to the detriment of Poland.”

Prosecutors have accused Janusz N. of first seeking connections with Polish and European politicians and then of talking them into spreading pro-Russian propaganda and disinformation as well as other activities serving Moscow’s interests.

A lawyer for Janusz N. approached by ZDF and Der Spiegel denied his client was a spy, describing him as a lobbyist and saying the accusations against him were baseless.