Maximilian Kra , the leading candidate of the far-right party "Alternative for Germany" (AzG) in the European Parliament elections, will not be part of the party's future delegation to the European Parliament, writes "Politico"
At a meeting on Monday, the newly elected MEPs from the AzG voted in favor of a proposal not to include Kra in their delegation, he himself told reporters.
"I wish my newly elected fellow MEPs the best of luck in their attempt to join the Identity and Democracy (ID) group without me," Kra wrote on social network X. "I think this is the wrong move and it sends a devastating message to our voters, especially our young voters."
In May, AzG was expelled from IS after a series of scandals that reduced its popularity and put it in isolation.
The move came after Kra, the leading candidate for the European elections, told an Italian newspaper that members of the Nazi SS were not necessarily criminals.
Now it seems that AzG wants to try to rejoin the IS group, which includes the "National Assembly" of Marine Le Pen. Party leaders hope that excluding Kra from their delegation will prompt Le Pen to reconsider her decision.
Cra has been at the center of a series of scandals related to the AzG. In April, German police arrested one of Kra's parliamentary assistants on suspicion of spying for China. Shortly thereafter, German prosecutors in Dresden opened preliminary investigations into allegations that Kra accepted payments from Russia and China.
On Monday morning, AzG co-chairs Alice Weidel and Tino Krupala met with the party's newly elected MEPs in Berlin to form the party's future delegation to the European Parliament and elect a group leader.
Despite recent scandals, the AfD finished second in Germany's European Parliament elections, expected to win 15.9% of the vote.