French far-right nationalists dissociate themselves from German far-right in European Parliament . The reason is that the leading candidate of the German party for the European elections said that not all SS members were criminals, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
European MPs from the National Assembly, Marine Le Pen's party, no longer wish to be in the same parliamentary group with the "Alternative for Germany" after the European Parliament (EP) elections in June. (AzG), the French newspapers "Liberation" and "Mond" and radio "France Info", which refer to the party.
Members of the EP form political groups, organized not by nationality, but by political affiliation. Currently, the French and German parties are part of the far-right nationalist faction in the EP "Identity and Democracy". (ID).
The split came about because of "recent statements by representatives of the AzG", according to radio "France Info", which refers to an interview of the leader of the AzG list for the European elections, Maximilian Kra, to the Italian publication "Republika" since the end of last week.
In it he states that not all members of the SS were criminals, referring to the Protection Echelons (Schutzstaffel, SS), the main paramilitary organization of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party.
"I would never say that anyone who wore an SS uniform was necessarily a criminal," Kra said. Asked to comment on whether he thought the SS were war criminals, he replied: "Certainly a large percentage of them were criminals, but not all of them were.
Nazi concentration camps were guarded and administered by the SS, who were involved in serious war crimes. At the Nuremberg Trials after the end of World War II, the organization was declared criminal.
The rift between the French and German parties became a fact after a series of disagreements between the AzG and the National Assembly.
Le Pen criticized the AfD after it emerged that plans for the mass deportation of migrants were discussed at a secret meeting outside Berlin in November, attended by representatives of the AfD and prominent figures from the radical right.
"So in my opinion, if it really was the case, then we have sharp differences of opinion with the AzG and we will have to discuss them and see if they can be overcome or if they will affect the possibility of us coming together in a common parliamentary group", said Le Pen.
In response, Kra stated that the matter would be ironed out.