Far-right coalition in European Parliament removes Germany's AfD party due to statements about SS members.
"The European Parliament's Identity and Democracy Group (ID Group) has voted to cut ties with the German delegation, the Alternative for Germany (AfD), effective immediately. This decision was made in response to the controversial comments made by Maximilian Krah, AfD's campaign leader for the upcoming European elections. In an interview with Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Krah defended the SS soldiers during World War II, suggesting that not all of them were criminals. AfD has previously banned Krah from public appearances due to these comments. French far-right leader Marine Le Pen and her National Rally Party (RN) announced they would no longer share a parliamentary group with AfD after the elections. AfD acknowledged that Krah's remarks had severely harmed their campaign and that he took full responsibility, resigning from the party's federal executive board straight away."
"The ID Group declared its distancing from the AfD, saying that they didn't want any connection with the incidents involving Krah. Krah is AfD's leading candidate for the European elections, and his remarks caused a negative impact. Krah apologized for his comments, which caused uproar saying, "Before I accuse someone of being a criminal, I want to know what they did. There were around 900,000 SS soldiers; they certainly included criminals, but not all SS men wore uniforms with the intention of being criminals." The SS was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler during World War II, responsible for guarding the concentration camps."
"Marine Le Pen of the National Rally Party also stated that her party wouldn't share a parliamentary group with AfD after the elections. AfD acknowledged the impact of Krah's statements, admitting that he had 'caused massive damage to the party in the current election campaign' and agreed to step down from all responsibilities within the party. In a statement, AfD confirmed, 'The candidate provided the pretext for this damage. Krah takes full responsibility for his actions and has decided to step down from the federal executive board with immediate effect.'"
"The initial source of news broke through CNN's James Frater in London, Nadine Schmidt in Berlin, and Barbie Nadeau from Rome."
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The European Parliament's decision to disassociate from the AfD is echoed on a larger scale, as Marine Le Pen's National Rally Party also announced they will not form a parliamentary group with the AfD post-elections. The controversial remarks about SS soldiers made by Maximilian Krah, the AfD's candidate for the European elections, have garnered international attention due to their association with World War II's SS organization.
Source: edition.cnn.com
