German AfD candidate steps down after SS comments as EU's far right splits.
The leading candidate for Germany's far-right party in the European election stepped back from campaigning on Wednesday to try to quell the backlash after declaring that the SS, the Nazis' main paramilitary force, were "not all criminals".
Maximilian Krah said in a statement that he would not attend future campaign appearances and also resigned from the senior leadership team of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party with immediate effect.
The move comes as French far-right leader Marine Le Pen announced her party was making a "clean break" with the AfD, suggesting the German party had become too toxic an ally ahead of the European election in June.
The AfD, which has slipped in the polls in recent weeks, said it had suffered "massive damage" and that Krah had taken full political responsibility.
In an interview published last weekend, Krah told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica that "SS were not all criminals". The SS, or "Schutzstaffel", was the main paramilitary force of Adolf Hitler's Nazi party, and, among its many roles, took a leading part in the Holocaust, the slaughter of 6 million Jews and other groups targeted by the Nazis.
It appeared to be the last straw for Le Pen, who in a radio interview on Wednesday morning accused the AfD of being rudderless and in hock to radical elements within it.
Le Pen told Europe 1 her party urgently needed to sever its ties with the German party. "The AfD goes from provocation to provocation," she said.
Le Pen's comments come a day after the RN, leading the race for the EU election in France, said it will no longer sit with the AfD in the European Parliament.
Anders Vistisen, the lead candidate for Denmark's far-right DF who is also representing the group in pre-election debates, wrote on X on Tuesday evening that "Maximilian Krah from the AfD has shown with his statements and actions that he does not belong in the ID group.If the AfD does not take advantage of the situation and get rid of Krah, the DF's position is that the AfD must leave the ID group," he added.
The AfD has also faced mass street protests after senior figures attended a meeting where the deportation of Germans with immigrant backgrounds was discussed, and over allegations that it harbours agents for Russia and China.
Krah's own aide was charged with spying for Beijing, putting more pressure on the politician, who tops the list of AfD candidates and would be the first to get a seat in the European parliament after the election.
Last week, a German court ruled that domestic security services could continue to keep the AfD under surveillance as a potentially extremist party.
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