Weidel and Chrupalla shoot against Meloni and Le Pen

Solidarity among Right-wing Radicals? None. The AfD leaders Weidel and Chrupalla criticized Italian Minister President Giorgia Meloni and French politician Marine Le Pen sharply during the AfD party conference in Essen.

At the beginning of their party conference in Essen, the AfD leadership clearly distanced itself from two other right-wing parties in Europe. The party is "against our public funds being thrown out the window for the Leyens and Melonis," said AfD chair Alice Weidel in her opening speech.

She threw both Meloni and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen into the same pot. Meloni's party, Fratelli d'Italia, is part of the European Conservative and Reformists group in the European Parliament, which is significantly to the right of the European People's Party, to which the CDU, in which von der Leyen is a member, belongs.

"We don't want Melonization, we remain the party for peace and sovereignty," said Weidel's co-chair Tino Chrupalla in his speech. Unlike Meloni, the AfD seeks as close a relationship as possible with Russia. Chrupalla also distanced the AfD from the French Rassemblement national, Le Pen's party, which was previously called Front national. "We cannot allow ourselves to be interfered with from France or Italy," Chrupalla said without mentioning Le Pen by name.

Chrupalla admits errors

Before the European election, the AfD was expelled from the Identität und Demokratie (ID) fraction in the European Parliament. The reason was an interview given by AfD lead candidate for the European election, Maximilian Krah, to an Italian newspaper in which he made trivializing remarks about the Nazi SS. Le Pen initiated the expulsion of the AfD from the ID fraction. Conflicts between Le Pen and the AfD had already existed beforehand, following the revelation of the Potsdam meeting, at which right-wingers, including AfD members, had discussed plans for "remigration."

The Rassemblement national was one of the most important parties in the ID fraction during the last legislative period of the European Parliament. Since the European election, the significance of the Le Pen party in the ID fraction has grown further, as the Italian League party lost votes to Meloni's Fratelli d'Italia.

Krah also made headlines due to ongoing investigations against him, as well as against the second-placed AfD candidate on the European list, Petr Bystron. Chrupalla admitted errors regarding the European election. "We could have gained 20 percent," he said. In the future, the AfD must examine its candidates more carefully. However, Chrupalla did not assume responsibility for the candidates in first and second place on the European list. The state organizations had sent their own candidates into the race, and majorities had "grassroots network structures." In the future, the federal executive committee will more closely monitor the candidate selection process, like the Austrian FPO.

It stays with the co-leadership

Despite the setbacks, the AfD's co-leadership of Weidel and Chrupalla remains unchanged. Both were re-elected as party chairs at the party conference. The AfD's election results were a disappointment, but the party leadership sees potential for growth in the upcoming state elections in Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. The AfD also plans to focus on its core issues, such as immigration and security. The party leadership is confident that it can regain lost ground and continue to grow in the coming months.

At the party conference, Weidel and Chrupalla put themselves up for re-election. They are running as co-chairs. A proposal to only put up one candidate in the future was rejected after a brief debate. There have been efforts in the AfD for some time to abolish the co-chair system. Before the party conference, it was discussed that Chrupalla was likely to run against Weidel if the co-chair system was abolished. That has now happened.

However, in Essen, the decision may also be made as to whether the AfD will sit in a faction in the new European Parliament. This must be decided by Thursday. First, the AfD wants to leave the ID party, of which it became a member in 2023. The AfD was still a member after being expelled from the ID faction. A few days ago, the AfD federal executive committee had decided on the withdrawal.

According to the wishes of the party leadership, the party conference should also decide that there will be a party secretary-general from 2025 onwards. According to "Stern", behind this plan is a project modeled after the French example: As Le Pen has professionalized and above all "de-baptized" her party, Weidel, in conjunction with the young Bundestag member Sebastian Müzenmayer, is supposed to reform and modernize the AfD. Long-term, there should only be one party chairwoman.

During the AfD party conference in Essen, Weidel and Chrupalla also criticized French political figure Marine Le Pen and her party, Rassemblement national, which was previously known as Front National.
Chrupalla mentioned that the AfD cannot afford to be influenced from France or Italy, implicitly referring to Le Pen and Meloni's impact.
The European elections saw the Rassemblement national gain significant influence within the Identität und Demokratie (ID) fraction in the European Parliament, leaving a void as the AfD was expelled from this fraction.
In her speech, Alice Weidel referred to Giorgia Meloni and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, placing them in the same category due to their political leanings.
Tino Chrupalla, the AfD's co-chair, highlighted the party's stance against Melonization, stating that the AfD aims to maintain its role as a party promoting peace and sovereignty, rather than adopting Meloni's approach.