Forum for Democracy MEP Marcel de Graaff has left the far-right Identity & Democracy party. He distanced himself from the “extremely bellicose attitude of the ID group” and what he saw as an anti-Russian course. According to him, the group is trying to silence him when it comes to his stance on NATO and Ukraine.

The ID Group consists of several right-wing political parties in the European Parliament. In addition to FvD from the Netherlands, the group also includes Belgium’s Vlaams Belang, the French Rassemblement National by Marine le Pen and Lega by Matteo Salvini from Italy.

De Graaff was banned for three months last week for being too pro-Russian in the conflict with Ukraine. The other parties in the ID faction have maintained good relations with Putin in recent years, but since the Russian invasion of Ukraine the pro-Russian stance has gradually distanced itself.

The suspension was against De Graaff’s sore leg. In a statement on Twitter, he said there was “no room for dissent within the group. Members are now forced to follow the position of the parties that govern their own countries. They sacrificed their principles for power and I’m not willing to do that.”

The chairman of the Forum for Democracy, Baudet, does not hide his support for Russia and Putin. Last week, in an interview with an American website, he said he believed Russian President Putin deserved all the support in the war against Ukraine.

MEP De Graaff now wants to form a new group with parties who, like him, want an end to sanctions against Russia. He also wants to stop military and financial support to Ukraine with the aim of “de-escalating the conflict”.

“We must engage in constructive dialogue so that we can achieve peace and prosperity,” he writes. “We are fighting a war that is not ours and our citizens are paying the price.”

compulsory vaccination

In his view, this newly formed group should also work for “respect for the autonomy of the member states” and for the fact that there should be no compulsory vaccination.

De Graaff has been a member of the European Parliament for ten years and did so for the PVV for a long time. At the beginning of this year he switched to the FvD because his previous party supported the use of the corona vaccines. In January he said the Forum for Democracy was the only party “that actually understands that we are not dealing with a pandemic or a Covid crisis at all”.