Two MEPs from the far-right Alternative for Germany have been asked to leave the European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European Parliament.
“The ECR Bureau met this evening and has invited the AfD to leave the ECR Group before 31st March, otherwise a motion will be tabled to expel them at its next meeting on the 12th April,” said a statement from the ECR.
There are two AfD members in the ECR — Beatrix Von Storch and Marcus Pretzell.
A Parliament official said the evictions are unlikely to have any impact on the group, which has 76 MEPs and is the third largest in the Parliament. The group has 20 British MEPs from David Cameron’s Tory party.
On Tuesday, von Storch contested the decision to expel her and Pretzell from the group. “There was no majority to vote for the exclusion of the AfD,” she said. “It was a compromise as they know how to do it in Brussels, to avoid losing face. We remain full members of the European Parliament.”
Von Storch reacted angrily on her Facebook page, blaming the decision on a deal between Angela Merkel and David Cameron.
She said Merkel was trying to damage the AfD before regional elections in Germany on March 13, and Cameron was trying to distance his Conservative MEPs — who are part of the ECR — from the AfD ahead of the June 23 referendum on EU membership.
“Two political gamblers with a long experience in deceiving their voters perform hopefully their last political bribery comedy,” said von Storch.
A source told POLITICO that the reason for the expulsion was controversial “shoot refugees” comments, and that if the MEPs do not leave voluntarily, the ECR has threatened to kick them out by a vote.
Last month, von Storch stated that the police should be allowed to use weapons against women and children who enter Germany illegally. She later tried to water down her remarks, saying that “the use of firearms against children is not permitted,” but “women are a different matter.”
Maïa de La Baume and Ryan Collins contributed to this article.