AfD Official Maximilian Krah Steps Down Amidst Investigations for Suspected Links to Russia and China
After a crisis meeting with the AfD's top brass, Maximilian Krah, who is being investigated for suspicious links to Russia and China, announced his decision to leave the party's federal steering committee. Krah expressed the importance of maintaining unity within the AfD during this challenging time, stating, 'The last thing that we need now is a debate about me. The AfD must keep its unity,' in an interview with Welt newspaper. He further declared his withdrawal from making campaign appearances and stepping down as a member of the federal committee. The anti-immigration party has been facing a series of controversies recently, leading to a decline in its popularity ratings. Krah found himself at the center of a deepening crisis after one of his aides in the European Parliament was arrested under suspicion of spying for China. Additionally, Krah and another AfD candidate for the EU elections, Petr Bystron, have been refuting allegations of accepting money to promote pro-Russian stances on a Moscow-financed news website. German prosecutors initiated a preliminary investigation into Krah regarding reports of suspicious payments received from China and Russia. The challenges for the AfD escalated when France's National Rally announced its decision to sever ties with AfD deputies in the EU parliament. The RN cited the remarks made by Krah in an interview with Italian newspaper La Repubblica, where he stated that a former member of the SS paramilitary force in Nazi Germany wasn't automatically considered a criminal, as the reason behind the decision. The RN and AfD were prominent members of the Identity and Democracy EU parliament group, which included various other European far-right parties.
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