Infighting between some of Europe’s biggest far-right parties has thrown pre-election campaigns into turmoil, threatening to spoil a parliamentary vote that was supposed to hand ultra-conservative groups big gains.
Marine Le Pen said on Wednesday her far-right National Rally would cut ties with the Alternative for Germany, after the AfD’s leading candidate said not all members of the Nazi SS paramilitary organization were criminals.
The last-minute split underlines one of the traditional problems these parties face: the fact that they are not a cohesive bloc and that their many differences may outweigh their similarities. This makes it even less likely that a right-wing group will be able to emerge from the June 6-9 European elections with enough influence to advance a conservative agenda.
