Brussels (Brussels Morning) – Maximilian Krah, AfD’s lead contender for the European Parliament elections, resigned from the party’s federal executive board after controversial remarks and pressure from European far-right parties.
Maximilian Krah, the lead contender for the European Parliament elections for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), has left the party’s federal executive board following pressure from France’s Rassemblement National, Italy’s Lega and the Danish People’s Party.
“I recognise that factual and nuanced statements from me are being misused as a pretext to damage our party,” Krah wrote in a statement posted on X.
“The last thing we need at the moment is a debate about me. The AfD must maintain its unity. For this reason, I will refrain from further campaign appearances with immediate effect and resign as a member of the Federal Executive Committee,” he added.
What Controversial Statements Did Krah Make About the SS?
His quit from the AfD’s federal board comes after he spoke to Italian media over the weekend that people who modelled the SS Nazi paramilitary group uniform during World War II were not “automatically a criminal”.
“You have to assess guilt on a case-by-case basis. At the end of the war, there were almost a million SS. Even (Nobel Prize laureate) Günter Grass was a member of the Waffen-SS,” he stated.
Krah’s statement comes after several of AfD’s partners in the European Parliament‘s far-right Identity and Democracy (ID) group on Tuesday reported they would end their alliance with the German party over the comments.
How Did Other Far-Right Parties React to Krah?
Anders Vistisen, the major candidate for Denmark’s far-right DF who is also representing the party in pre-election debates, reported on X on Tuesday evening that “Maximilian Krah from the AfD has shown with his statements and actions that he does not belong in the ID group”.
“If the AfD does not take advantage of the situation and get rid of Krah, the DF’s position is that the AfD must leave the ID group,” he contended.
In France, Jordan Bardella, the RN’s lead candidate, affirmed his party would no longer sit with the AfD after the June 6-9 polls during a televised debate on Tuesday evening.
“I think that the AfD, with whom we’ve had the opportunity to work in the European Parliament over the last five years, has crossed some lines that I consider to be red lines and, as a result, the Rassemblement National will have new allies at the end of the European elections but will no longer sit alongside the AfD,” he stated on LCI.
A source at Italy’s Lega party meanwhile stated in a statement on Tuesday evening that “as always, Matteo Salvini and (the RN’s) Marine Le Pen are completely aligned and in agreement,” suggesting Lega would back the RN and DF in booting AfD from the group.
What Scandals Are Affecting AfD and Krah’s Campaign?
The weekend’s statements are not the only scandal tarnishing the AfD and Krah’s campaign for the European elections. Krah’s assistant, Jian Guo, was apprehended last month in Germany after being indicted of serving as “a worker of the Chinese secret service” as well as “constantly passing on information about negotiations and findings in the European Parliament to his intelligence client”.
Guo is also blamed for having snooped on Chinese dissidents living in Germany. Krah and Guo’s offices were intruded by police earlier this month but the MEP declined to step down from the AfD’s leadership over the scandal, dubbed Chinagate.
