Maximilian Krah is simply a figure that has caused a number of controversy in Germany and internationally in fresh years. alternate politician for Germany (AfD) won a ticket to the Bundestag on Sunday despite many scandals, including accusations of ties with Chinese and Russian intelligence and statements relativizing Nazism. His political activities not only influenced the image of AfD, but besides led to the global isolation of the organization in the European Parliament. This article examines Krah's political path, its scandals and consequences for AfD.
After the 2014 European Parliament election, AfD joined the faction of European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR). Initially, the organization sought to build an image of a moderately Eurosceptic group. However, in 2016, following close cooperation with the Austrian Freedom organization (FPÖ), AfD began to be seen as a extremist formation. The Austrians were seen by ECR as being besides pro-Russian, and in addition corruption scandals and crisis in the party, especially after the Ibiza-Gate affair (2019), may have raised concerns about FPÖ's stableness as a political partner.
In March 2016, ECR authorities launched a procedure to remove Euro MPs AfD due to their ties to FPÖ and the statements of 2 leaders of the German party, suggesting the anticipation of shooting immigrants. Beatrix von Storch left the faction, joining the European Group of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD), while Marcus Pretzell was officially expelled from ECR on 12 April 2016.
After these events, AfD joined the recently formed faction Identity and Democracy (ID) in the European Parliament. Cooperation with Marine Le Pen (National Unity), Matteo Salvini (Lega) and another groups was to strengthen AfD's position in the European arena. However, interior disputes and scandals shortly led to an alliance breaking.
One of the key moments in the global policy of AfD were events related to Maximilian Krah. In May 2024 he gave an interview to the Italian paper La Repubblicain which he stated that "not all SS members should be considered criminals". These words have sparked a wave of outrage and an immediate reaction from European allies of Alternatives.
The Marine Le Pen National Unity announced that after the EP election it would no longer cooperate with AfD. Their decision was besides supported by the Italian League, Czech Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) and Danish People's Party, which set the condition for further cooperation – AfD would gotta remove Kraha. Flemish Vlaams Belang criticised Krah's statements, but decided to abstain from the final decision until the end of the election. Under the influence of these events, the faction Identity and Democracy decided to exclude AfD from its ranks. The leader ID Marco Zanni justified the decision not only with Krah's statements, but besides with increasing suspicions of Chinese and Russian influences in AfD.
In April 2024, the German lawyer General arrested his assistant, Jian Guo, on suspicion of spying on behalf of Chinese intelligence. According to investigators, Guo regularly provided Beijing with information on the negotiations and decisions taken in the European Parliament. The detention of Guo and the search of Krah's office in Brussels increased suspicions that the politician might have deliberately acted in favour of China. His earlier actions pointed to strong ties with Beijing. Krah voted against the European Parliament resolution condemning the persecution of the Uighurs. In 2023 he made a visit funded by the Chinese government, where he met with representatives of the Communist organization of China. He publically stressed that Taiwan should be considered part of China.
In addition to his contacts with China, Krah was besides a pro-Russian politician. The open criticism of NATO and support for Ukraine, as well as the repetition of the Russian war narrative, gave him the opinion of 1 of the main "Kreml advocates" in German politics. Krah repeatedly opposed the policy of sanctions imposed on Russia and criticized military aid for Ukraine. In a Chinese interview Global Times stated that "the war in Ukraine is in the interest of the USA, not Germany".
German services besides analyse whether Krah or its surroundings could have received financial support from Russian entities. The investigation is ongoing, but already a politician is the subject of sharp attacks in the Bundestag.
Despite the scandals, Krah won the Bundestag election in 2025, winning a mandate in Saxony with a score of 44% of the vote. He clearly rejects the word “Conservative”, preferring the designation “Right-wing”. As part of the party, he is associated with the faction Der Flügel (The Wing), formerly informally led by Björn Höcke, leader of the AfD in Thuringia.
The Der Flügel faction was launched in 2015 as a consequence of the “Erfurt Declaration” (Erfurter Resolution) which referred to AfD as "the opposition movement against further erosion of German identity". From the very beginning, Der Flügel has represented a nationalist and cultural approach to politics, advocating a regulation of immigration, defending “the core of German culture” and openly undermining Germany's historical policy regarding planet War II. Over the years, the faction became the center of the most extremist elements of AfD, and its leaders – Björn Höcke and Andreas Kalbitz – were accused of being linked to neo-Nazi organizations. The Der Flügel meetings, called “Kyffhäusertreffen”, served as the site of the yearly gatherings of his supporters, the most extremist part of the group.
From the very beginning, Der Flügel was a clear opposition to the more average factions in AfD. In 2015, it contributed to the departure of co-founder AfD, Bernd Lucke. Over the years Der Flügel gained a dominant position in the AfD structures in Brandenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. In 2020, about 7,000 AfD members were considered part of this faction, which accounted for about 20% of the full party. In 2019, the national Constitution Protection Office (BfV) classified Der Flügel as suspected of “highly right-wing” activity (which is simply a euphemism that mostly describes neo-Nazim), declaring his ideology to be contrary to the German constitution. In March 2020, BfV officially announced that Der Flügel was a “extremistic venture against free democratic order” and included the group with intelligence oversight. In consequence to this decision, national management of AfD ordered the dissolution of Der Flügel until the end of April 2020. However, according to the BfV, there is no evidence of actual dissolution of the faction. In fact, many of its members proceed to function in the AfD structures, and the faction itself adopted a fresh name – “Socio-patriotic faction”. In 2022, Jörg Meuthen, erstwhile president of the AfD, announced his departure from the party, claiming he had lost the power conflict with a extremist wing and that the organization had gone “too far to the right”, losing contact with the democratic order of Germany.
