German AfD too far right for Le Pen? – DW – 05/22/2024

The rift between the French far-right populists in the European Parliament and the German far-right Alternative for Germany (Alternative für Deutschland, AfD) was the final blow to the leadership of the German AfD party. First, it was French far-right leader Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National group that ended its relationship with the AfD in the European Parliament two weeks before the European elections.

The AfD leadership then banned its main candidate, Maximilian Krahn, from appearing publicly at campaign events. Krah, for his part, announced his resignation from his post on the Federal Executive Board. But he is still in first place on the AfD electoral list, because Krahn cannot legally withdraw from the list.

Red lines on the extreme right

The president of the French far-right populists, Jordan Bardella, accused Maximilian Krah of crossing a “red line”, a statement Krah reiterated in statements to an Italian newspaper last weekend. RepublicThe criminal character of the SS (schutzstaffel, paramilitary and police organization of the Nazi Party under Hitler’s rule). During World War II, the SS also committed serious war crimes and crimes against humanity in France.

The far-right behavior of the AfD, a party that is under surveillance by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution as potentially extremist, does not fit into Marine Le Pen’s concept. She has been trying for years to make her party, which emerged from her father Jean-Marie Le Pen’s Front National, appear more moderate.

Marine Le Pen appears to have an almost conservative-bourgeois profile as she seeks to become president of France in 2027, which would be her third attempt. As for the European elections, he and his RN are well ahead of President Emmanuel in opinion polls. Macron’s liberals.

Something is cooking on the European far right

With regard to immigration policy, the French and German far-right parties were virtually pulling the same wagon within the Identity and Democracy (ID) faction. But in January 2024, it emerged that the AfD discussed mass deportations (or “demigration” in far-right parlance) of refugees, including those whose asylum applications had already been accepted. Apparently, for the Rassemblement National, the first red line has already been crossed.

Marine Le Pen then summoned the AfD leadership and MEP Maximilian Krah to Paris to gather information. However, the AfD leadership did not fulfill Le Pen’s request to never include ‘migration’ in the party programme. In February, there was already a deep rift between the RN and the AfD, which AfD deputy Gunnar Beck then denied to DW.

Restraint as a strategy in election campaign?

The far-right populist Italian party Lega (League), led by former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, has also ended its cooperation with the AfD in the joint parliamentary group, according to staff of that faction in Brussels.

After the European elections from June 6 to 9, populist parties ranging from the right to the far-right will be reorganized in all EU countries. So far, they have organized themselves into two groups: “Identity and Democracy” (ID) and the “European Conservatives and Reformists Group” (ECR). The ECR considers itself somewhat more moderate and votes more often than the ID on various legislative proposals.

Sophia Russack of the CEPS think tank in Brussels sees this trend: “In the ECR you can see that they are becoming quite liberal because influence and power are now attractive. They have understood that you can only participate in decisions If you look like a liberal, and not a right-wing extremist,” he explains.

Meloni wants to unite the far right and the AfD is upset

So far, it was mainly the different positions regarding Russia’s war against Ukraine that divided the group. The ID contained parties friendly to Russia. The ECR brought together Polish nationalist conservatives led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the Italians of Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy), who clearly supported Ukraine.

But those differences appear to be diminishing. Marine Le Pen and Giorgia Meloni no longer rule out collaborating in a new joint bloc after the European Parliament elections. During a meeting of far-right parties from across the EU in Madrid last weekend, Giorgia Meloni said she wanted to unite the European far-right. “We unite parties that share the same point of view and, however, may differ greatly in individual nuances,” she declared. The aim would be to “send a protest” to the European left.

In Italy, Meloni formed a far-right coalition with his neo-fascist parent party Fratelli d’Italia, the League, and the Christian Democrats of the late Silvio Berlusconi’s party Forza Italia. This coalition governs Italy in a relatively stable manner. At the EU level, Meloni is liberal and committed to transatlantic relations.

In this new coalition between members of the French RN, the Italian Fratelli and, perhaps, the Polish PiS, the extreme right within the German AfD no longer fits, because of its closeness to Russia and its radical criticism of the EU. The fact that a close associate of Kraah, the former top candidate of the AfD, has been arrested on charges of alleged spying for China and that a preliminary investigation is underway against Kraah has already caused former far-right allies to distance themselves.

Opinion polls predict a rise in the numbers of far-right populist and nationalist parties in the European elections. Together they could win 21 to 25 percent of the 720 seats.

(CP/MS)