Infighting among some of Europe¡¯s largest far-right parties has thrown pre-election campaigning into turmoil, threatening to spoil a parliamentary vote that was supposed to see ultra-conservative groups win major gains.
Marine Le Pen on Wednesday said her far-right National Rally would break ties with the Alternative for Germany after the AfD¡¯s lead candidate said that not all members of the Nazi SS paramilitary organization were criminals.
The last-minute rupture underscores one of the traditional problems faced by these parties ¡ª the fact that they don¡¯t form a cohesive bloc and their many differences may outweigh their commonalities. This makes it even less likely a rightwing group will be able to emerge from the June 6-9 European election with enough leverage to further a conservative agenda.
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