German far-right AfD party expelled from European Parliament group

BERLIN

All nine members of the German far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD) were on Thursday expelled from the right-wing Identity and Democracy (ID) group in the European Parliament.

The decision comes after comments by Maximilian Krah, the AfD’s lead candidate in the June 6-9 elections, who said the members of the Nazi paramilitary SS force were “not all criminals.”

In a brief press release, the far-right pan-European group said: "The ID group no longer wants to be associated with the incidents surrounding Maximilian Krah, the leader of the AfD list for the European elections."

The ID grouping is the sixth largest in the European Parliament.

Marine Le Pen's party had announced on Tuesday it would no longer sit with the AfD in Brussels. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​