FRANKFURT, Germany — It is not the first time that the Azerbaijan government has been caught bribing politicians in Europe, and it may or may not be the last. As reported on January 29 by the German Press Agency (DPA) and picked up by national media outlets, the Munich District Attorney’s office announced that members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) have been under investigation for four years, suspected of having accepted bribes from the Azerbaijan regime. And now they will be charged.
(The money was apparently not well spent, as Azerbaijan has in essence been kicked off PACE.)
Among them are two former members of the German Bundestag (Parliament), Eduard Lintner from the Christian Social Union (CSU) and Axel Fischer of the sister party Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The former was a long-term member of the German legislative body until 2009 and a member of PACE since 1999; Fischer served in the Bundestag until 2021 and was leader of the German delegation in PACE from 2014 to 2017. Another German politician named is the late Karin Strenz, a former CDU Bundestag member, who died in 2021. Her Baku connection had been revealed earlier, and was covered in the national press as well as the Armenian-German Correspondence (ADK), the publication of the German-Armenian Society (DAG).
Now that the district attorney in Munich has apparently enough material to reinforce its suspicions of bribery, the legal process should continue. Now it is up to the Munich Court of appeals to consider the charges and decide if it goes to court proceedings.
As reported on national television ZDF and other media, Strenz had received funds from Baku via Lintner. Back in 2017, Lintner’s name had emerged in investigations conducted by the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung as well as the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), and he had acknowledged his role as a paid lobbyist. Reportedly two of his firms had contracts with a state-owned Azerbaijani entity, which delivered monthly payments, amounting in the end to millions of Euros. Apparently Lintner kept some of the money which was channeled through shell companies abroad, and forwarded some to Strenz. Lintner’s companies were supposedly being paid for certain services; instead, it was political favors that were purchased.
PACE, the body the individuals were hired to influence is presented as the “democratic conscience of Europe” on its website. With representatives of its 46 member countries, it is mandated to protect human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. Armenia is a member of the Council of Europe, and therefore is bound to respect its rulings. Azerbaijan was a member until last week.
