Press
For Chrupalla, the expulsion from the far-right group in the EU is just a “crisis”. Nevertheless, he makes serious accusations against his former partners.
Glauchau – The exclusion of the AfD from the right-wing populist EU group Identity and Democracy (ID group) is causing a stir in the party. AfD leader Tino Chrupalla apparently vented his anger at the state party conference in Glauchau, Saxony. According to the German Press Agency (dpa) he rejects any interference by the parties of Marine Le Pen (Rassemblement National) and Giorgia Meloni.
He sharply criticized Meloni and her neo-fascist party Fratelli d’Italia. As Prime Minister of Italy, Melonie stands for more migration and weapons for Ukraine in its defensive fight against Russia. “This Melonization will not happen with us,” said Chrupalla.
AfD leader Chrupalla against Meloni: “For us, German interests always come first”
During his speech, the AfD chairman denounced the Italian Prime Minister’s party for turning away from its values in order to present itself in a better light for others. The AfD will not do that, said Chrupalla. “For us, German interests always come first.”
The dispute among the European right broke out after several scandals involving the AfD’s top candidates for the European elections, Maximilian Krah and Petr Bystron. The two AfD politicians are accused of having been part of a Russian disinformation campaign. According to the Czech newspaper Denik N In the Bystron case, money is said to have been transferred. He and Krah have so far denied having received any money from the broadcaster.
One of Krah’s employees in the European Parliament is also said to have worked for the Chinese secret service. daily News reported that the Federal Prosecutor’s Office had the offices of Krah and his employee searched at the beginning of May. Krah himself is only being treated as a witness in this case and not as a defendant.
Because of SS statements – Europe’s right-wing parties split from AfD
What ultimately brought relations between the parties to a standstill was a statement made by Krah in an interview with the Italian news media The Republic. There he said that not every SS man was a criminal. The AfD’s federal executive board then imposed a ban on Krah appearing, and he announced on X (formerly Twitter) that he would voluntarily refrain from appearing on the election campaign. He also announced his resignation as a member of the federal executive board.
As the World reported, four delegations in the ID group voted for the exclusion of the AfD from the far-right group. Marco Zanni, ID group leader and member of the far-right Italian party Lega, submitted a corresponding motion. In a statement, it was said that the reason for the exclusion was a “series of incidents in which Mr Maximilian Krah and thus also the German delegation of the group were involved,” quoted the dpaThis has damaged the group’s reputation.
“Waxy line” – AfD politician with serious accusations against Le Pen
AfD politician Stefan Keuter criticized the former French partners in an interview with the German Radio sharp. He suspects domestic political reasons for the Rassamblement National’s decision to exclude the AfD from the ID faction. Keuter is also happy that his party is not being influenced by the “soft line” of Le Pen’s party. He does not seem to take the exclusion seriously and calls the break merely “uproar”. He assumes that the talks will resume after the election.
Chrupalla, meanwhile, seems to be sticking with Krah. In Glauchau, he thanked the EU lead candidate for withdrawing from the election campaign for the good of the party. The AfD has already survived many crises. The exclusion from the EU parliamentary group is only a small “crisis”, said Chrupalla. (nhi)