Allegations against Karin Strenz drag scandal over payments to European politicians into German election campaignRevelations over payments by Azerbaijan to European politicians have seeped into the German election as it emerged that a close ally of Angela Merkel allegedly received money from the authoritarian regime. Lintner admits the payments but says he did not personally benefit and he was unaware of the original source of the payments. Strenz has visited Azerbaijan on several occasions, including as an election monitor, and is chairwoman of the German-South Caucasian Friendship Group. The centre-left Social Democratic Party, led by the former European parliament president Martin Schulz, is heading for 23-25%. In a separate move, the European parliament last week called for an investigation into the “laundromat” revelations.

Source: The Guardian September 19, 2017 13:34 UTC