Dirk Driesang is heading for Brussels | Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images Far-right German MEP to be succeeded by more moderate rival AfD politician Dirk Driesang says he will be happy to take over for Beatrix von Storch.

Dirk Driesang is set to succeed German MEP Beatrix von Storch of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) as she leaves the European Parliament for the Bundestag.

Driesang told POLITICO on Monday that he would take von Storch's seat once he is officially notified by Germany's federal returning officer.

"I expect a call from the federal returning officer in the next two weeks," Driesang said. "In this case, I will gladly accept the mandate."

In the 2014 European Parliament election, von Storch was not elected directly, but joined the Parliament via the AfD's party list. She was listed third, while her successor-to-be Driesang was listed eighth.

Usually, the candidate listed fourth would get to be the successor, but because the candidates between von Storch and Driesang were either elected to the Bundestag or left the party, the federal returning officer will have to skip the four people between them.

Driesang recently created a new group within the AfD called the "Alternative Center" in Bavaria as a counterweight to von Storch's nationalist right wing.

Since winning its first seats in the German parliament in last month's election, the AfD has seen its internal conflicts come to a head as former party leader Frauke Petry and her husband MEP Marcus Pretzell both announced they would quit the party, so far taking at least one other member with them.

Driesang has said that his "Alternative Center" is "not in association with Petry's cheerleaders," according to Die Zeit.