“I voted for Krah’s expulsion because he was the problem in this case and also previously in many matters such as Russia-China issues,” Jack Maddison, an Estonian MEP for the Identity group, told Politico. “But I did not support punishing all Germans.”
In a last-ditch attempt to avoid being expelled from the Identity Group, AfD MEPs requested that the Identity Group expel Krahe – and not the entire AfD delegation – for “the continuing violation of the group’s cohesion and reputation.” This effort ultimately failed.
Tensions have been rising for months between the AfD and other identity parties in parliament due to a series of scandals, many of them related to hate. In April, German police arrested one of Krah’s parliamentary aides over allegations that he spied for China.
Shortly after, German prosecutors launched preliminary investigations into allegations that Krahe accepted payments from Russia and China “in exchange for his work as a member of the European Parliament.” Another AfD candidate has been implicated in a money-for-influence scandal, involving pro-Russian media.
Krah announced on Wednesday that he would pause his campaign and step down from his party’s leadership council, while remaining the party’s front-runner ahead of the EU elections.
It appears that repeated scandals have contributed to the decline in the AfD’s popularity. A Politico poll of exit polls shows the AfD on track to win 16 percent of the vote, down from 22 percent in January.
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