Jordan Bardella, president of the French National Rally (Rassemblement National – RN), announced on Tuesday that his party had ended its alliance with its German counterpart, the Alternative for Germany (AfD), a member of the right-wing Identity and Democracy (ID) group in the European Parliament (EP).
“I confirm that we will no longer sit together. The AfD has crossed red lines,” said Bardella.
This decision followed a comment by Maximilian Krah, the RN’s lead candidate for the AfD in the EP elections.
“I wouldn’t say that everyone who wears an SS uniform is automatically guilty,” Krah told the Italian press on Saturday (18 May), referring to the Nazi paramilitary units.
“As a result, the RN will have new allies after the elections. The groups in the European Parliament will be reconstituted after the vote on 9 June,” he said.
AfD-RN tensions were high
The relationship between the second largest delegation of the ID group, the RN, and the third largest delegation, the AfD, has been deteriorating for months.
Relations have been strained in recent months after German media revealed that a programme of ‘reverse migration’ of migrants and foreign-born Germans was discussed at a meeting in Potsdam attended by AfD members.
RN leader Marine Le Pen called on her German allies to clarify the matter and question their alliance.
Later, the AfD angered the RN by questioning the territorial status of the French overseas department of Mayotte in an official written request to the German government.
This request did not go down well with RN leader Marine Le Pen, who said during her visit to the island at the time that the AfD should “deal with Germany’s problems”.
Identity and Democracy, the AfD group in the EP, is also concerned
RN MEP Alexandre Loubet told Euractiv that the RN’s decision to break had been communicated to all delegations of the ID group.
Lega, the leading Italian party in the ID group, told the press that “as always, Matteo Salvini and Marine Le Pen are in perfect harmony and agreement”.
Le Pen attended the VOX event in Madrid last weekend. During the event, she sat in the front row between VOX president Santiago Abascal and the party’s leading candidate for the EP elections, Jorge Buxadé.
However, no AfD representatives were present at this event or at recent European conservative events in Brussels and Budapest in April.
“Parties are free to invite whoever they want,” Thibaut François, secretary general of the ID group and RN MEP, told Euractiv. There are actually quite a few reservations about some of the AfD’s hardline positions. We take note of that,” he said.
Krah leaves AfD federal executive committee
On the other hand, AfD politician Krah has announced his resignation from his party’s executive board.
According to WELT, Maximilian Krah announced his resignation from the AfD’s federal executive committee on Wednesday morning. As a result, the AfD politician will no longer take part in the campaign for the European elections.
Krah confirmed this to the WELT. “I am aware that my factual and nuanced statements are being used as an excuse to damage our party. The last thing we need now is a discussion about me. The AfD must maintain its unity. That is why I will immediately withdraw from the election campaign and resign as a member of the federal executive,” she said.
