Far-right German politician Maximilian Krah has announced that he will be pulling back from campaigning for the upcoming EU elections, although he will remain his party’s lead candidate. This decision comes after Krah made controversial remarks in an Italian newspaper, stating that SS members weren’t automatically “criminals” and that blame should be assessed individually.
The SS, or Schutzstaffel, were a Nazi paramilitary group responsible for numerous war crimes, including playing a leading role in the Holocaust. In response to Krah’s comments, France’s far-right National Rally (RN) has announced that they will no longer sit with the AfD in the European Parliament, calling for a “cordon sanitaire” between the parties.
This latest development follows a series of controversies surrounding the AfD, including allegations of secret meetings discussing mass deportations of non-ethnic Germans. Krah’s decision to step back from campaigning comes amidst pressure leading up to the EU elections, with one of his staffers arrested for spying for China and an investigation opened into alleged payments from Russia and China.
Despite these challenges, the AfD continues to poll second or third nationwide and first in some states due to vote in local elections later this year. The party’s future remains uncertain as they navigate internal divisions and external scrutiny.
