German far-right party bans its top European election candidate from campaigning after Nazi remark

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER
Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany party has banned its top candidate for next month’s European election from making any more campaign appearances and said he would resign from the party’s board immediately. Wednesday’s public demotion came after Maximilian Krah told an Italian newspaper that not all members of the Nazis’ elite SS unit were war criminals. Krah had already been under scrutiny after authorities in Brussels searched his offices at the European Parliament in connection with one of his assistants who was arrested last month on suspicion of spying for China. The scandals involving Krah come at an inconvenient time for the party hoping for big gains in the European election.