Too right-wing for the right

Huge scandal in Brussels: AfD kicked out of parliamentary group

At the center of various scandals: AfD EU lead candidate Maximilian Krah(Bild: AFP/FREDERICK FLORIN)

All AfD MEPs have been expelled from the right-wing ID Group in the European Parliament. The far-right party has repeatedly been at the center of major scandals in recent months - including accusations of espionage and Nazi rhetoric.

A corresponding motion by group leader Marco Zanni has received the necessary support, several group representatives told the German Press Agency in Brussels on Thursday. The reason for this is the negative headlines of recent weeks.

AfD EU lead candidate Maximilian Krah(Bild: AFP/FREDERICK FLORIN)

The background to the motion is the numerous negative headlines about the AfD in recent weeks. For example, the party leadership banned its own top candidate Maximilian Krah from appearing on Wednesday. The specific reason for this was Krah's controversial comments about the SS. In addition, the 47-year-old Saxon is under pressure due to the espionage affair surrounding an employee and because of his closeness to Russia and China. The number two on the AfD's European list, Petr Bystron, will also no longer be campaigning for the time being following investigations into corruption.

FPÖ part of the ID Group
In addition to the Italian Lega, the ID Group in the European Parliament also includes Marine Le Pen's French RN party and the FPÖ. The Dutch Party for Freedom (PVV) of Geert Wilders is also an ID member. However, it does not have a representative in parliament.

(Bild: APA/Leonie Grassauer)

The FPÖ voted to expel Krah from the parliamentary group, but not the other members of the AfD delegation, the party told APA. "There is no collective liability." According to Deutsche Presse-Agentur, the Italian Lega, the French Rassemblement National party, the Flemish Vlaams Belang, the Danish People's Party and the Czech Freedom and Direct Democracy party voted in favor of expelling the AfD mandataries. The motion was voted on in a written procedure within the parliamentary group.

Symbolic exclusion
Excluding the AfD MEPs would be primarily symbolic, as Parliament will not meet again until after the European elections in two weeks' time. The political groups may then also be reassembled.

Marine Le Pen's French Rassemblement National has already terminated its cooperation with the AfD. RN party leader Jordan Bardella said on TF1: "I think that the AfD, with whom we have worked together in the European Parliament for five years, has crossed lines that are red lines for me." After the election, we will have new allies and will no longer sit alongside the AfD.