AfD criticizes former partners after expulsion from ID group in the European Parliament

After the AfD was kicked out of the right-wing ID group in the European Parliament, party leader Tino Chrupalla sharply criticized the previous partners from Italy and France. He forbade any interference from the parties of Marine Le Pen and Giorgia Meloni, he said on Friday evening at the regional party conference in Glauchau, Saxony. As Prime Minister of Italy, Meloni stands for more migration and more weapons in the war in Ukraine. "This Melonization will not happen with us." His party will not bend in order to become more attractive to others. "For us, German interests always come first."

On Thursday, the ID Group expelled all nine AfD MEPs with immediate effect. Among other things, the decision referred to a "series of incidents in which Mr. Maximilian Krah and thus also the German delegation of the group were involved". These had damaged the reputation of the group. Previously, Krah's comments on the SS, among other things, had caused sharp criticism.

Krah comes from Saxony and is the AfD's lead candidate in the European elections at the beginning of June. In view of the massive quarrels, however, he is no longer appearing in the election campaign. Krah has withdrawn from the election campaign for the good of the party, said Chrupalla in Glauchau. "I would like to thank Maximilian Krah for that." He played down the turbulence: The party had already been through many crises, this was a "small crisis".

At its state party conference, the Saxon AfD wants to elect a new state executive committee by Sunday and adopt an election program for the state elections in September. At the start, state leader Jörg Urban urged delegates to refrain from discussing the quarrels surrounding Krah. "This party conference is the wrong platform to hold discussions about the campaign against our lead candidate for the European elections, and is also not suitable for discussing the federal party and its handling of these challenges."

The AfD state association is considered a "secure right-wing extremist endeavor" by the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution.