AfD in the EU Parliament requests exclusion of Krahs from the group

Yesterday the ban on appearances in Germany – now the AfD delegation in the European Parliament is also opposing Europe’s top candidate Krah. And she herself is threatened with adversity.

The AfD delegation in the EU Parliament has requested the exclusion of its MP and top candidate for the European elections, Maximilian Krah, from the Identity and Democracy (ID) faction. Krah has “damaged the cohesion and reputation” of the group, according to a letter from delegation leader Christine Anderson to the group board, which was also received by the group ARD ZDF and the newspaper Welt were the first to report on it.

This would be seen as the last attempt to prevent the exclusion of the entire AfD delegation from the ID parliamentary group, the letter states. It is hoped that this will “prevent further damage to the AfD”. The party executive in Berlin has been informed, the letter continues.

“A massive problem with Dr. Krah”

In numerous discussions, attempts were made to avert this step until the very end, the letter continues. “However, our partners have a massive problem with Dr. Krah.” This is “primarily due to his personality structure.”

Accordingly, the partners within the ID faction would have wanted a clear signal from the Federal Executive Board “with regard to Dr. Krah’s personality.” “Above all, a clear commitment that we no longer want to tolerate this personality in the AfD. However, this has not happened.”

Application for AfD exclusion has been submitted

Regardless of the AfD delegation’s letter, the head of the right-wing ID parliamentary group has requested the exclusion of all AfD MPs. This is evident from a document obtained by the dpa news agency. It was sent today to top representatives of all ID member parties.

According to dpa information, the German AfD delegation leader Christine Anderson objected to the written procedure and demanded to be heard.

The text of the application states that in view of “the series of incidents in which Mr. Maximilian Krah and thus also the German delegation of the group were involved and in view of the fact that these incidents have damaged the cohesion and reputation of the group” the decision should be made to terminate the membership of the members of the German delegation with immediate effect.

Krah under pressure because of espionage scandal

The names of all nine AfD MEPs are listed. The motion could now be voted on in the course of the afternoon. According to information from the dpa, the Italian Lega, among others, has already agreed. According to the ID rules, silence is also considered as consent.

The background to the motion by ID parliamentary group leader Marco Zanni are the numerous negative headlines that have been made about the AfD in recent weeks. For example, the party leadership banned its own top candidate Krah from appearing on Wednesday.

The specific reason was Krah’s controversial statements about the SS. The 47-year-old Saxon is also under pressure because of the espionage affair involving an employee and because of his proximity to Russia

Above all symbolic character

In addition to the Italian Lega, the ID faction in the European Parliament also includes Marine Le Pen’s French RN party and the Austrian FPÖ. Geert Wilders’ Dutch Party for Freedom (PVV) is also an ID member. However, it has no representative in parliament.

Excluding AfD MPs would be primarily symbolic, as Parliament will not meet again until after the European elections in two weeks. The parliamentary groups may then be reorganized. Marine Le Pen’s French Rassemblement National has already terminated its cooperation with the AfD.