EU parliamentarian Krah and AfD boss Chrupalla Image: AFP
The AfD met on Saturday for a European party conference in Magdeburg to start drawing up their list of candidates for the EU elections next June.
The AfD met on Saturday for a European party conference in Magdeburg to start drawing up their list of candidates for the EU elections next June. Given its current poll high, the party expects to be represented in the new EU Parliament with up to 20 MPs. It currently has nine parliamentarians. Several days are planned for the candidate election, the party conference will continue next weekend.
The Saxon MEP Maximilian Krah is considered a promising contender for first place on the European election list. However, he is controversial within the party, and the nomination is likely to be associated with long debates. Krah belongs to the ultra-right AfD camp around the Thuringian state chief Björn Höcke.
Another possible candidate for first place is Norbert Kleinwaechter, who is considered a moderate member of the Bundestag and is responsible for European policy issues in the AfD parliamentary group. Last year he ran in the board elections against AfD boss Tino Chrupalla and scored 36.3 percent.
At the start of the meeting, around 600 delegates voted on a motion by the party executive to discuss and decide on the AfD program for the European elections only after the list of candidates had been drawn up. That would probably be next Sunday. The party leadership fears that otherwise the list of candidates will not be completed in time. There are countless applicants, they can each introduce themselves for seven minutes and then answer questions.
At a one-day federal party conference on Friday, the AfD reaffirmed its claim to government. The delegates also decided to join the right-wing European umbrella party Identity and Democracy (ID).
HOME PAGE