The German far-right party AfD has decided to leave the European party alliance ID, as announced by deputy party leader Peter Boehringer at the party conference in Essen. This decision follows the federal executive board’s authority, which was granted by a two-thirds majority vote by the delegates.
The ID, short for Identity and Democracy, is a coalition of right-wing populist and nationalist parties. The AfD had only joined the ID party alliance last year, and had previously been a part of the ID faction in the European Parliament. However, controversial statements made by AfD top candidate Maximilian Krah about the National Socialist SS resulted in the exclusion of the AfD group from the parliamentary group shortly before the European elections.
Despite the AfD’s decision to exclude Krah from its group after the elections, the party did not reconcile with the ID faction. This ultimately led to the AfD’s decision to leave the ID party alliance.