Too right for Le Pen and Meloni
The AfD has been hit to the core
A comment from Volker Warkentin
May 22, 2024, 9:00 p.m
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After scandals involving espionage for China and propaganda for Russia, the interview with leading candidate Krah is the last straw: Le Pen and Meloni are distancing themselves from the AfD. Even if there are tactical motives behind it, it could be the end of the Teflon effect.
The muzzle that the AfD federal executive board put on top candidate Maximilian Krah almost two weeks before the European elections shows that the top of the AfD, which is classified as a suspected right-wing extremist case, has been hit to the core. The fact that the French and Italian right-wing parties of the AfD, of all people, put their chair in front of the parliamentary group’s door in the European Parliament and thus possibly forego state funding speaks volumes. The German comrades are too right for them.
It remains to be seen whether the AfD’s expulsion from the ultra-right “Identity and Democracy” (ID) faction means the beginning of the end of the German right-wing populists’ poll high. The AfD leadership reacted so sharply because it was one of their own who caused the scandal. Until now, party leaders Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel have dismissed right-wing provocations as isolated cases that the AfD had nothing to do with. And yet the right-wing party gained in the opinion polls. It remains to be seen whether the Teflon effect – nothing sticks to the AfD – is still working now. The party leadership is trying to limit the damage.
Because the Krah case could have a massive impact on the Euro-right’s quest for power. The external image of the AfD has long been a thorn in the side of Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National (RN), which is concerned about its civic reputation. After media reports about a secret meeting on the “remigration” of naturalized migrants, Le Pen summoned Weidel to the crisis meeting.
The final straw was an interview in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, in which Krah explained that not every member of the SS was a criminal. The German has therefore crossed red lines, said RN boss Jordan Bardella. The SS was responsible for the murder of millions of Jews and also committed numerous war crimes in France.
The RN does not like the partly ultra-right tones from the AfD because Le Pen wants to become French President in 2027. She subordinated everything to this goal. The daughter not only gave the right-wing extremist Front National (FN), founded by her father Jean-Marie Le Pen, a new name, but also a bourgeois image. She tries to score points in the middle. Le Pen also supports Ukraine, while the AfD is on the side of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
The situation is similar for Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, whose right-wing government is following a moderate course, with a few exceptions. Did the she-wolves eat chalk? These are probably more tactical decisions. Vigilance is still the order of the day for democrats.