Far-right ID group rejects Germany's AfD despite dropping Krah

The far-right Identity and Democracy (ID) group in the European Parliament currently has no plans to readmit the Alternative for Germany (AfD), despite the exclusion of controversial politician Maximilian Krah from the party's parliamentary delegation, reported dpa.

An AfD spokesperson confirmed a report by Politico on Thursday, stating that France's National Rally party along with other ID representatives had made the decision at a meeting in Brussels.

Last month, the ID group had expelled the AfD over scandals involving their top election candidate Maximilian Krah shortly before the June 6-9 European Parliament elections.

After last week's election, the newly elected AfD members of parliament decided by a majority on Monday not to include Krah in their delegation.

Excluding Krah from the delegation was seen as part of an effort by the AfD to patch things up with the other far-right parties in the European Parliament that form the ID bloc.

Krah described the decision as a mistake and predicted that it would not change the ID's mind.

Krah has been battered by several scandals, including allegations of accepting funds from Russia and China. A former top aide to Krah was separately arrested on allegations of having spied for China.

Krah also made highly controversial remarks to an Italian newspaper in which he said that members of the notorious Nazi SS paramilitary were not all criminals.