Press
The right-wing ID group in the EU Parliament had thrown out the AfD, and now the party has also decided to leave the ID party alliance.
Berlin – Another bombshell for Europe’s right: After Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced an alliance with the Austrian FPÖ and the Czech ANO in Vienna, the AfD from the European party alliance ID.
The federal executive board’s decision was announced by deputy party leader Peter Boehringer at the AfD party conference in Essen – just a few hours after Orbán’s visit to Vienna. However, the step had been expected for some time and came as little surprise. Previously, the AfD delegates had given the federal executive board the authority to make such decisions by a two-thirds majority. The ID – short for Identity and Democracy – is an alliance of right-wing populist and nationalist parties.
AfD is thrown out of the ID group after Krah scandals – AfD currently without an alliance in the EU Parliament
The AfD only joined the ID party in the European Parliament last year. It had been present in the ID group in the European Parliament for some time. After controversial statements by the AfD’s top candidate Maximilian Krah about the National Socialist SS, the group had expelled the AfD group shortly before the European elections excluded. Even the AfD’s decision after the election to exclude Krah from its group did not bring about a rapprochement with the right-wing group in the European Parliament. However, the AfD was still a member of the ID party.
In general, factions in the EUParliament has clear advantages over non-attached parties. They play an important role in shaping the Parliament’s agenda, receive more speaking time in debates, more staff, financial resources and have more office space in Brussels. Furthermore, factions can decide on the organization of committees and delegations. The future of the AfD in the European Parliament is still uncertain.
AfD as a possible partner for Orbán’s “Patriots for Europe” faction?
The AfD cannot form a group in the European Parliament on its own – at least 25 members from at least a quarter of the EU member states, i.e. a total of seven, are required to form a group. This means that Orbán’s new far-right group between the right-wing parties from Hungary, Austria and the Czech Republic would not yet be complete. It currently seems very unlikely that the AfD will reconcile with the ID group. This is where the new ultra-right alliance, Orbán’s “Patriots for Europe”, comes in handy.
If the AfD actually joins the threesome, the four parties would probably have a total of 38 seats in the European Parliament – enough to form a parliamentary group. This would mean that only three more parties would be missing, which would have to join the “Patriots for Europe” movement in order to meet all the conditions of a parliamentary group. An opportunity that the AfD cannot really miss – because without a parliamentary group, the party is at a significant disadvantage in the EU Parliament. (sischr/dpa)
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