The EU election|The electoral movement in Europe

Member released pigeon in parliament: "Peace symbol"

Slovakian MEP Miroslav Radacovsk caused confusion in the European Parliament when, during a session, he pulled a live white dove out of a bag and released it into the chamber.

- Let this pigeon fly all over Europe. Let it unite us. Let it become a symbol of peace, he said as murmurs rose from the others present.

When he stepped down from the lectern, the chairman had only one comment:

- Can you capture it too?

What happened to the pigeon is unclear.

...................................

AFD's top names are under pressure - involved in double scandals

The top candidate for the far-right German party AFD, Maximillian Krah, is being pressured by his party to end his EU election campaign. This morning, Krah has been called to AFD leader Tino Chrupalla's office in the German parliament, writes Politico in its morning letter Brussels Playbook.

Krah is embroiled in two major scandals. His close associate was arrested yesterday on suspicion of being a Chinese spy. Earlier this spring, Krah, like the second name on the party's EU list, was accused of having received money from Russia.

AFD, which appeared to be making strong progress in the election, now has major problems, states the politics site. It is too late to knock Krah from the top position and his face is already adorning all the election posters. At the same time, he refuses to resign.

Now the EU Parliament is preparing a resolution condemning the party.

- AFD once again shows its true, unpatriotic face. Everyone who votes for AFD in the EU elections is voting for more influence from Russia and China, says MEP Daniel Caspary from the EPP party group.

......................................

The AFD summit after the crisis meeting: "Is and will remain the top candidate"

Maximillian Krah, top candidate in the EU elections for the German far-right party AFD, will not resign despite the scandals surrounding Chinese espionage and Russian money that surround him. He says this to the assembled media gathering in Berlin after a meeting with the party on Wednesday.

- I am and remain a top candidate. It is now about focusing the election campaign back on European issues, says Krah, and emphasizes that he himself is not suspected of crime.

According to sources for the Süddeutsche Zeitung, however, the party acts in other ways. There will be no election video with the top candidate and the party also wants to refrain from using printed election posters with him. On the whole, Krah will be involved less than planned in the election campaign, according to the data.