The AfD candidate resigns from the European elections after saying that not everyone in the Nazi SS was “criminals”

The head of the list for the European elections of the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD), Maximilian Krahhas submitted his resignation this Wednesday and has decided to abandon the electoral campaign.

His departure comes after controversial statements about the Nazi SS and accusations that link him to China. The politician, an MEP since 2019, is being investigated for allegedly collecting money from Beijing and an advisor of his in the European Parliament was arrested in April accused of spying for the Chinese regime. The Belgian police searched the offices in the European chamber of the far-right politician.

“I recognize that nuanced, fact-based statements on my part are being abused as a pretext to harm our party. The last thing we need right now is a debate about me. AfD You must maintain your unity. For this reason, I will refrain from making further campaign appearances with immediate effect and will resign as a member of the Federal Executive Committee,” Krah posted on X.

His words about the Nazi SS have had consequences on the European extreme right. The French party of Marine Le PenNational Rally (RN for its French acronym), and the Italian formation the League, of Matteo Salvini, decided to break with AfD in the European Parliament. The three are part of the Identity and Democracy group. As of June 9, it is unknown which group they will form.

[Detienen al asesor de un eurodiputado ultraderechista alemán por espiar para China]

“The future European deputies of the RN they will not sit with those of the Afd,” a spokesperson for the French party said after learning of Krah’s statements. Salvini’s party has only said that it will follow in the footsteps of the RN.

AfD intends to fix the situation, however, and Krah’s departure could be the first step in doing so, according to German broadcaster ZDF.

[Cisma de la ultraderecha en el Parlamento Europeo: Le Pen y Salvini rompen con la AfD alemana]

In an interview for the Italian newspaper The Republic, Krah declared: “I will never say that anyone wearing an SS uniform was automatically a criminal. Guilt must be assessed on a case-by-case basis. At the end of the war there were almost a million SS. Even Gunter Grass, Nobel Prize winner for literature, belonged to the SS.”

Although Krah has only brought problems to the AfD in the last month, the German far-right party does not have bad expectations for the next European elections on June 9. They would receive 15% of the votes, the same as the Greens and behind the Christian Democrats, according to German polls.