Espionage scandals are hurting Germany’s far right

On April 27thADMEPMEPADADmp Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, the co-leaders of the hard-right Alternative for Germany (f) party, held a rally in the southern town of Donaueschingen to launch their campaign for the European Parliament’s elections in June. Their (lead candidate) was not invited to speak. Maximilian Krah, a member of the European parliament, is in the doghouse. Last week Germany’s prosecutor-general arrested his aide Jian Guo, a German of Chinese origin, on charges of spying for China; he remains in custody. Mr Krah was known among fellow s for his refusal to back resolutions critical of the Asian power. One fellow called him “China’s loudest vassal”.Like other hard-right parties, the f once expected huge gains in the European elections. But a series of scandals has made that look unlikely. In January the German press reported that, at a meeting with a notorious Austrian far-right activist, party members had discussed encouraging “remigration” of foreign-born Germans. That touched off weeks of protests which drew hundreds of thousands of people. In early April press reports alleged that Petr Bystron, an f , was paid €20,000 ($21,300) by a Russian disinformation network. Mr Bystron denies the allegations.