The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has been expelled from the Identity and Democracy (ID) group in the European Parliament, in a further blow to the German party.
ID “no longer wishes to be associated with the incidents” involving Maximilian Krah, head of the AfD list for Germany’s European Parliament elections in June, a group statement said on Thursday.
Marco Zanni, the leader of the ID group, has filed a request to expel the nine AfD members after negative headlines about the party in recent weeks, especially about Krah.
The move comes after a “series of incidents involving Mr. Maximilian Krah and – by extension – the group’s German delegation” and their impact on the group’s reputation, according to the text of the motion to expel the AfD.
In a vote on Thursday afternoon, the Italian League, led by Zanni, the French National Rally, the Vlaams Vlaams Belang, the Danish People’s Party and the Czech Party for Freedom and Direct Democracy voted in favor of expelling the AfD, according to information obtained by dpa. .
The Freedom Party of Austria and the Conservative People’s Party of Estonia voted against.
Krah came under significant public scrutiny after his comments that not all Schutzstaffel (SS) members were criminals. The SS was an important paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party.
In response, the AfD banned Krah from appearing in public.
Another AfD candidate, Petr Bystron, will also no longer appear due to an investigation by the Public Prosecution Service into alleged corruption.
Both Krah and Bystron have come under intense investigation in recent weeks for alleged ties to pro-Russian networks.
In addition, last month German police arrested Krah’s then-assistant, Jian Guo, on suspicion of espionage. Krah fired him after allegations that the aide was spying for China.
The exclusion of AfD members from the EU legislature is mainly symbolic, as parliament will not reconvene until after the European elections in June. The political groups can then possibly be reformed.
Le Pen’s National Rally had previously ended cooperation with the AfD after plans to deport migrants on a large scale were discussed at a secret meeting last November near Berlin attended by members of the AfD and known radical rightists.
