A series of corruption scandals has recently shaken Germany, leading to the resignation of several parliamentarians from the ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and falling poll ratings for the party ahead of this September’s general election. Some of the MPs exposed had been taking financial payments from authoritarian regimes such as Azerbaijan and North Macedonia to lobby for them in both Berlin and Brussels. But, beyond revealing a shocking propensity for corruption by elected officials – which has been the principal recent focus of the German media – the affairs raise broader questions about authoritarian endeavours to exert influence in German and European politics.