Massive change is afoot within Europe’s far right. Just as voters across 27 countries prepare to go to the polls in EU elections, a split over the German far right’s allegiance to the Third Reich is driving a realignment.
The far-right Identity and Democracy (ID) group in the European parliament last week expelled the entire Alternative for Germany (AfD) faction from its ranks after a furore involving the leading AfD candidate Maximiian Krah.
The unprecedented move, initiated by Marine Le Pen, was officially a reaction to remarks Krah made in an interview with an Italian newspaper. Asked if his demand that all Germans take pride in their forbears would include those who were in the SS, the Nazi’s main paramilitary force, Krah said that “not all SS were criminals”.
This is all just optics, or “tactical” as the article terms it. There is no real difference in policy or opinion between the “new” right and the “old” right, they want the same things, but the “new” right are the ones who are somewhat smarter about eg. voicing support for fascists out loud too much – which will certainly change once they have enough power. And this is not to say that they don’t support fascists even openly, just that they do it so that it doesn’t generally end up in headlines.
Moderate conservatives are mythological creatures, much like unicorns or ethical billionaires.