The German press has been in near hysteria about the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany’s (AfD) new top candidate for the European Parliament, Maximilian Krah.
Krah is seen as belonging to the ethno-nationalist wing of the party, or at least that is how he has been portrayed by establishment media outlets. He also has a skeptical view of the European Union, saying during an interview with Junge Freiheit that today’s European Union is a “catastrophe for Germany and Europe.” The interview was conducted shortly after he was elected as the lead candidate at a party congress on Saturday in Magdeburg.
“We say quite clearly: The EU of today is a disaster for Germany and Europe in terms of its agenda and structure. But we also say: There must be a European policy, there must be institutional cooperation, and this must take place in a new federation of fatherlands,” Krah told Junge Freiheit.
“In order to get from the unsatisfactory status quo to the desired future status, there will be a juxtaposition of disruption and evolution; many authorities and structures will simply have to go, others will have to be transformed. The term ‘dissolution of the EU’ is (not appropriate) for this process; it invites misinterpretation and insinuation on the part of our political opponents. In this respect, I do not use it.”
In another interview conducted yesterday with Deutschlandfunk, he stated that the EU is a bureaucratic “monster.” In the past, he has also referred to the EU as a “vassal of the United States.”
Krah opposes mass immigration, recognizes ethnic Germans
Krah’s past statements also show that the AfD is serious about topics such as the Great Replacement, specifically referring to the term in 2018 while describing then Chancellor Angela Merkel’s immigration policies.
“‘Repopulation’ refers to government action that brings about a fundamental change in the ethnic composition of the population of a specific area. (…) The Great Replacement sounds harsh, ugly, uncomfortable. The Great Replacement sounds like knife attacks, rape and Islamization. It sounds like government understanding of violent criminals and political discrimination of the protest directed against (this policy). So, the Great Replacement sounds like the reality in Merkel’s Germany. This is exactly why the term should be taboo. Because it expresses the truth.”
In 2019, he gave a speech in which he referred to the German “ethnic people” in comparison to the German “state people,” saying that they are not necessarily the same thing. According to the AfD politician, the German ethnic people are the “true sovereign” and within the meaning of the Basic Law and could even override this Basic Law and form a new constitution.
He also said, according to a 2018 article, that “the current mass immigration is not a ‘moral imperative’ to help the poor (and) persecuted. It is the implementation of the crazy idea of having to make Europe ‘colorful’ and transform the European peoples into a mixed population. Except that the immigrants don’t stick to that idea; they do not want to be part of a degenerate, colorful and ‘diverse’ population, but come as colonizers.”
Krah has said in the past that he rejects the term “conservative” for himself and the AfD and instead describes the AfD’s affiliation as “right-wing.”
AfD in the crosshairs
While Krah was selected to lead the AfD’s European Parliament list at the party’s conference in Magdeburg, his views have already put him in the crosshairs of Germany’s left-liberal establishment and the powerful Office of the Protection of the Constitution (BfV). The head of the BfV, Thomas Haldenwang, said that the party’s conference confirms the BfV’s designation that the party is a “suspected threat” to Germany’s constitution. He also said that the AfD’s moderate wing played hardly any role in the party’s conference and that the term Great Replacement was used four times by speakers and was promoting “right-extremist conspiracy theories.”
As Remix News has reported in the past, Thomas Haldenwang, who is a member of the rival Christian Democrats (CDU), has gone on the offensive against the AfD, raising fears that the domestic intelligence agency was being weaponized against the AfD and used to keep the party from the political process. The BfV is widely believed to be working toward a ban of the party, a measure complicated by the fact that the AfD is currently the second most popular party in the nation, with the most recent INSA poll placing the party at 23 percent.
During his Junge Freiheit interview this week, Krah responded to the BfV, saying: “The Office for the Protection of the Constitution is a political authority and acts in exactly that way. The aim here is to damage the competition right from the start. We will also advocate that this special German approach to government protection be looked at in Brussels and that the question finally be asked: Is this actually compatible with European values of democracy and the separation of powers?”
Asked what EU parliamentary faction the AfD will join, Krah said: “We already have a parliamentary group, we are part of the parliamentary group for Identity and Democracy. I was in Rome last week with Parliament President Lorenzo Fontana, the number two in Italy and one of Matteo Salvini’s closest friends,” he said.
“We immediately agreed that our joint work in Brussels, but also in Berlin, Rome, Paris, Vienna and so on, is getting better and better. Our voters trust us, and their numbers measure how we are doing. I hope for a strong result and the power to shape parliament and the parliamentary group that comes with it.”
In recent months, the AfD has enjoyed a popularity surge across the country, having had its first mayor elected at the beginning of July and its first district administrator in late June.