Recent investigations linking top AfD members to Beijing and Moscow have rattled the far-right party voting base in the run-up to the European elections in June, causing doubts about their dedication to the patriotic cause — one of their main talking points.

A series of scandals and spying allegations are jeopardising the election campaign of Germany’s AfD party, despite expectations that it will be crowned as the far right’s driving force in the next European Parliament.

The AfD’s hopes of big gains, driven by its self-projected image of being the only true German patriots, have been all but dashed after the party suffered a series of blows to its legitimacy, including allegations of spying for China.

Last month, an assistant to Maximilian Krah, AfD’s top candidate in the European elections, was arrested on suspicion of spying for Beijing, and the duo’s Parliament offices were searched.