France's far-right RN splits with Germany's AfD in European Parliament

22/5/2024 6:10

        France's far-right Rassemblement National, leading the race for EU elections in France, will no longer sit with the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the European Parliament after the AfD's top candidate said members of the Nazi SS force were "not all criminals".
        
        The far-right AfD, running second in German opinion polls before June's elections, has come under harsh scrutiny after senior figures attended a meeting where deportation of immigrants was discussed, and over allegations that it harbours agents for Russia and China.
        
        Last week, a German court ruled that domestic security services could continue to keep the AfD under surveillance as a potentially extremist party.
        
        In an interview published last weekend, the AfD's leading election candidate, Maximilian Krah, told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica that "SS were not all criminals".