The German far-right AfD party was excluded on Thursday from the Identity and Democracy (ID) group in the European Parliament – which includes the French RN – following a series of scandals involving one of its leaders, Maximilian Krah . This decision comes two days after the announcement by the president and head of the National Rally list in the European elections in June, Jordan Bardella, of the breakdown of the alliance between his party and the AfD. Nine German elected officials, including Maximilian Krah, are affected by the exclusion measure.
“Collaborate with neighboring parties”
“The Bureau of the Identity and Democracy group in the European Parliament decided today to exclude the German delegation, AfD, with immediate effect,” said the Italian Lega, which represents the main delegation of the far-right group. “The ID group no longer wants to be associated with the incidents involving Maximilian Krah, head of the AfD list for the European elections,” he continues. “All delegations were consulted for the decision we initiated to exclude the AfD delegation from the ID group,” Jean-Paul Garraud (RN), president of the French delegation, told AFP . “This follows the unacceptable comments made recently by their head of the list”, whose “remarks commit the AfD in our opinion”, he added.
The latest incident involving MEP Maximilian Krah, suspected of proximity to Russia and China, dates back to last weekend. He considered that an SS man was “not automatically a criminal”, in an interview with the Italian daily La Repubblica. The AfD had banned this 47-year-old lawyer from all electoral meetings on Wednesday, while maintaining him as head of the list in the June 9 elections. On Thursday, Germany’s far-right party said it had “taken note” of the group’s decision, while saying it was “optimistic” about the future. “The AfD will of course strive to constitute a strong group in the European Parliament, with a strengthened delegation,” indicates the party, affirming its desire to “collaborate with neighboring parties”.
Suspicions of Russian and Chinese financing
For several weeks, Maximilian Krah has become an embarrassment for his party. He is the subject of a preliminary investigation for suspicion of Russian and Chinese financing. One of his assistants at the European Parliament, Jian Guo, was accused by the federal prosecutor of having spied on behalf of Beijing at the very heart of the institution. He was arrested at the end of April. The number two on the AfD list and member of the Bundestag, Petr Bystron, also announced on Wednesday that he was also giving up campaigning, citing family reasons to a Bavarian radio station.
The ID group, chaired by the Italian Marco Zanni (Lega), previously brought together 59 MEPs from eight countries. The main delegations come from the Italian Lega (23 elected officials) and the French RN (18). It is currently the sixth group in the European Parliament, behind the other family of the nationalist right, the European Conservatives and Reformists (CRE), who count in their ranks Fratelli d’Italia of the head of the Italian government Giorgia Meloni. Polls predict a rise in power of these forces, which could conquer up to around 37% of the seats – against 30% currently – at the end of the elections.
The former president of the RN, Marine Le Pen, and Giorgia Meloni suggested a possible rapprochement at the end of these elections, despite deep differences. A merger between ID and CRE would create the second largest political group in Strasbourg, behind the European People’s Party (EPP, Christian Democrat). But such attempts at union have so far ended in failure.