Far-Right Group Ousts Alternative for Germany from Coalition Over Controversial Remarks

Two weeks ahead of the E.U. parliamentary elections, the Identity and Democracy Group in the European Union’s Parliament made a significant announcement on Thursday, May 23. The far-right group stated that it had ousted the Alternative for Germany party from its coalition, dealing a severe blow to a key alliance.

The decision to exclude the Alternative for Germany, also known as AfD, was a result of comments made by Maximilian Krah, the AfD’s lead candidate in the forthcoming elections. In a recent interview, Krah appeared to downplay the crimes carried out by the SS, the Nazi paramilitary force notorious for killing millions of people during the Holocaust.

“One million soldiers wore the SS uniform,” Mr. Krah said to La Repubblica and The Financial Times in a joint interview. “Can you really say that because someone was an officer in the Waffen-SS they were a criminal? You have to establish individual guilt.”

In response to this, the Identity and Democracy Group released a statement indicating that it “no longer wants to be associated with the incidents involving Maximilian Krah, head of the AfD list for the European elections.”