Recent investigations linking top AfD members to Beijing and Moscow have rattled the far-right party voting base in the run-up to the European elections in June, causing doubts about their dedication to the patriotic cause — one of their main talking points.
A series of scandals and spying allegations are jeopardising the election campaign of Germany’s AfD party, despite expectations that it will be crowned as the far right’s driving force in the next European Parliament.
The AfD’s hopes of big gains, driven by its self-projected image of being the only true German patriots, have been all but dashed after the party suffered a series of blows to its legitimacy, including allegations of spying for China.
Last month, an assistant to Maximilian Krah, AfD’s top candidate in the European elections, was arrested on suspicion of spying for Beijing, and the duo’s Parliament offices were searched.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
A series of scandals and spying allegations are jeopardising the election campaign of Germany’s AfD party, despite expectations that it will be crowned as the far right’s driving force in the next European Parliament.
The AfD’s hopes of big gains, driven by its self-projected image of being the only true German patriots, have been all but dashed after the party suffered a series of blows to its legitimacy, including allegations of spying for China.
Last month, an assistant to Maximilian Krah, AfD’s top candidate in the European elections, was arrested on suspicion of spying for Beijing, and the duo’s Parliament offices were searched.
Preventing Krah from further damaging AfD’s image wasn’t enough to stop the hard-right Identity and Democracy (ID) group in the European Parliament from removing the German party from their bloc.
AfD’s core voters won’t be put off by recent news, but those who are still undecided on who to cast their ballot for could still be swayed away from the far-right party in the wake of these scandals.
“They are selling their soul on Russian propaganda outlets and videos, a close collaborator of a far right politician was even arrested, accused of spying for China and giving information from the European parliament,” von der Leyen added.
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