The nationalist Alternative for Germany party (AfD) has been rocked by allegations that one of its MPs is a Russian intelligence asset.

Markus Frohnmaier denied any links to the Kremlin on Friday after alleged Russian intelligence documents emerged which describe him as “under our absolute control”.

The BBC, Spiegel magazine and ZDF television in Germany, and Italy’s La Repubblica published what they claim is a Russian strategy paper from April 2017 detailing plans to influence policy and public opinion in the European Union.

The paper names Mr Frohnmaier as a candidate in German national elections later that year and recommends “material and media support” for his campaign.

If he is elected, it concludes: “We will have our own MP under our absolute control in the Bundestag”.

Mr Frohnmaier denied any knowledge of the strategy paper in a statement issued by his lawyers and said he could not explain why he was named in it.

He said he was “never under the control of any third party” and had “never solicited financial or media support in Russian political, economic or civil circles”.

In a separate interview with the BBC he suggested the paper could be fake.

The AfD denied any of its MPs are foreign intelligence assets. “All claims to the contrary are false. We have a member sitting on the parliamentary intelligence oversight committee so we have full information on this,” a spokesman said.