The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) was seen as the big winner in the recent European election. It was able to significantly increase its vote share and can now claim to be the second strongest political force in Germany behind the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

And yet there is unrest in the party. Numerous scandals and affairs involving prominent AfD figures have been making negative headlines for months.

On top of this, the 15.9% it took in the EU election represented something of a blow to its expectations, given the party had polled at 20% in 2023.

Now many party members have begun to criticize the leadership, particularly its two co-leaders, Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla.

Both will again run as chair at the AfD conference being held in Essen, western Germany, this weekend.

The scandals surrounding AfD's top candidate for the European elections, Maximilian Krah, caused discord within the party. First, Krah's name was linked to an affair involving illegal Russian payments, and one of his employees was arrested on suspicion of spying for China.

Then, in an interview with an Italian newspaper before the election, Krah suggested that not all of Adolf Hitler's SS, the infamous Nazi military unit, should be considered criminals.

Weidel........

© Deutsche Welle