Germany defunds neo-Nazi party as AfD threat grows
Germany’s constitutional court on Tuesday approved a request to withdraw public funds from the neo-Nazi Homeland party, offering what one official called a possible “blueprint” for action against the farright Alternative for Germany (AfD).
The verdict comes as Germany debates how to counter the rising popularity of the AfD, which is under close surveillance by domestic intelligence after being classed a “suspected case of far-right extremism”.
Homeland, known until 2023 as the NPD, was “excluded from state funding for a period of six years”, the court said. In its reasoning, the court said Homeland sought to “eliminate the free democratic order” and had a “racist, in particular anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic and anti-Gypsy, attitude” that clashed with Germany’s constitutional principles.
The neo-Nazi group would therefore lose access to state funding available to parties, as well as any tax breaks. The ruling was a “confirmation of the pathway to not offering much space to the enemies of freedom”, Chancellor Olaf Scholz told journalists.
“The forces that want to dismantle and destroy our democracy must not receive a cent of government funding,” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said. The AfD currently sits second in national polls and is leading them in several eastern regions where elections are set to be held later this year.
‘Confirmed’ extremist
Markus Soeder, the conservative premier of the southern region of Bavaria, said ahead of the ruling that withdrawing funds from Homeland could be a “blueprint” for dealing with the growing threat from AfD. Three of the party’s regional branches—in the eastern states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia — are classed as “confirmed” extremist organizations for their efforts to undermine democracy and their anti-immigrant rhetoric. Over the weekend, hundreds of thousands of people came out to protest against the AfD after its members were revealed to have discussed a mass deportation plan at a meeting with extremists. The mooted mass deportation plan was “an attack on the foundations of our society”, Faeser said. “Rightwing extremism is the greatest extremist threat to our democracy — and to people in our country,” added Faeser.
Withdrawing public funding was “another instrument” to defend democracy, Faeser told journalists at a press conference, while refusing to rule out a similar move against the AfD. Some government figures have urged caution, however, and warned against giving the AfD material for an anti-establishment campaign.The challenge to the AfD needed to be “political”, while any action should be limited to the “constitutionally necessary and possible”, Finance Minister Christian Lindner told broadcaster Welt TV. —AFP