Maximilian Krah praises some SS officers, provokes split with French far right
BERLIN — Germany’s far-right party banned its most prominent candidate, Maximilian Krah, from appearing at election events after a string of missteps, including comments suggesting that not all of Nazi Germany’s SS officers should be considered criminals.
The remarks prompted France’s far-right National Rally — nominally an ally of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party — to say it would no longer sit with them in the European Parliament.
The AfD had “crossed lines that I consider to be red lines,” said Jordan Bardella, head of the National Rally, which is seeking to tone down its own extremist image.
The two parties are expected to be at the forefront of a strong far-right showing in next month’s European elections as they capitalize on continent-wide dissatisfaction with mainstream parties.
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Even before he suggested that not all members of the SS — which planned, orchestrated and vigorously pursued Nazi Germany’s Holocaust — were bad people, Krah was already in hot water for allegedly receiving payments from Russia and China. Last month, his aide was arrested on suspicion of spying for China.
Thorsten Benner, director of the Global Public Policy Institute, said the decision by the French far right to sever ties with the AfD is part of its ongoing effort to moderate its image.
“This is for domestic reasons because [the party is] on a path to remove some of the rough edges,” Benner said. “And to be associated with the radical-sounding statement by the AfD is not good business.”
At the same time, the AfD is also keen to keep everyone in its party happy, Benner said. “They’re downplaying the importance of Krah in the public positioning ahead of the elections, without removing him completely.”
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The divide between the French and German far right comes just over two weeks before 400 million people cast their ballots in elections for the European Parliament.
Johannes Kiess, a researcher of far-right politics at the University of Leipzig, said a division between the German and French far-right parties wouldn’t necessarily weaken the far right in the European Parliament.
“This division could actually open up new opportunities for the far right. The conservative European People’s Party is moving further to the right and they will be happy to do business with parts of the far right that look less radical,” he said. “And that might change E.U. politics, much more than just a strong far right.”
Despite months of scandals, Germany’s AfD continues to poll as the second-most-popular party in the country at around 18 percent — behind the conservative Christian Democrats and ahead of all three governing-coalition parties of the center left.
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A January report that senior AfD politicians had held a secret meeting with far-right extremists to discuss the forcible deportation of migrants prompted hundreds of thousands of people to protest the party, while Björn Höcke, leader of the AfD’s regional branch in Thuringia, was fined $14,000 last week for using a banned Nazi slogan at a rally in 2021.
A German court ruled earlier this month that the internal intelligence service can continue monitoring the AfD at the national level as a “suspected extremist case.”
Yet despite all the scandals and negative press, Kiess believes the party will only lose a percentage point or two in June’s contests.
“Those people who are convinced by the AfD, they will stay with the AfD,” he said. “The most important thing for them is to keep being in the news, keep dominating the headlines, even if it’s scandal after scandal and nothing constructive.”
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