German Court Issues Arrest Warrant For Far-Right Lawmaker


Maximilian Krah at an AfD campaign in Nordhausen, Thuringia in 2023. Photo Credit: Vincent Eisfeld, Wikipedia Commons


August 14, 2026
EurActiv

By Magnus Lund Nielsen

Key Takeaways

A German court has issued a civil arrest warrant for sitting AfD lawmaker Maximilian Krah after he failed to appear at a bailiff’s appointment over unpaid legal costs stemming from a failed lawsuit against satirist Jan Böhmermann.

The dispute arose when Böhmermann repeated a claim that Krah had ordered a large quantity of champagne at Oktoberfest; the court dismissed Krah’s injunction request and ordered him to pay costs, of which a small outstanding sum remains.

Because Krah holds a Bundestag seat, the warrant cannot be enforced without parliamentary authorization; he states he paid the main amount earlier and was unaware of the appointment.


(EurActiv) — A German court has issued a civil arrest warrant for sitting AfD lawmaker and former MEP Maximilian Krah after he failed to attend a bailiff’s appointment concerning unpaid legal costs, German media reported on Thursday.

The dispute began after German satirist Jan Böhmermann read out a claim on a podcast that Krah had ordered 200 bottles of champagne at Munich’s Oktoberfest in 2024. Böhmermann subsequently said research suggested the number was closer to 50.


Krah sought an injunction, arguing that the allegation violated his personal rights because it could portray him as boastful and self-important. However, the Düsseldorf regional court dismissed the case, noting that Böhmermann had presented the allegation as a submission from a listener, and later corrected the claim. It ordered Krah to cover the legal costs of the case.

Böhmermann’s lawyers subsequently recovered around €5,000 in costs through enforcement proceedings. A further €296.26 reportedly remains outstanding. Krah said he had paid the main amount in January, was unaware of the bailiff’s appointment and would pay any additional costs verified by his lawyer.

Krah served in the European Parliament from 2019 to 2025. In 2025, he was elected to the German Bundestag. His current mandate means the warrant cannot be enforced without authorisation from the Bundestag.

Krah caught headlines in 2024 when he said that not everybody serving in Nazi-Germany’s SS elite unit was “automatically a criminal”. The comments threw the AfD into disarray and led French political allies in Rassemblement National to distance themselves from the AfD.