The German Constitutional Court decided on Tuesday, December 23 to deprive a small neo-Nazi party of all public funding for six years, opening the way to a possible similar procedure against the Alternative for Germany (AfD). The NPD party, renamed Die Heimat (“The Homeland”) last year, “continues to aim, in contempt of human dignity and the democratic principle of the Basic Law, at a replacement of the existing constitutional order by an “authoritarian national state”, estimates the Court in its judgment. L’“racist attitude, in particular anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic and anti-Gypsy” of the party, is contrary to the constitutional principles of Germany, she detailed.
Despite its insignificance on the political scene – with around 3,000 members according to official data – the group has a national network, in particular via a nationalist youth organization or associations at the municipal level, underlines the Court. It organizes gatherings, popular festivals or hikes aimed at conveying its racist ideology, and seeks to show “a strong presence” in citizen demonstrations. So much so that in 2011, the German government considered launching a procedure to ban the neo-Nazi party NPD, to which the far-right terrorist cell suspected in particular of the murder of nine foreigners was close.
“Not a cent of state funding”
“The forces that want to dismantle and destroy our democracy must not receive a cent of state funding”, reacted the Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser, in a press release. In 2019, the Bundestag, the Bundesrat and the federal government called for the abolition of subsidies and advantages granted to this party. Any party in Germany that obtains at least 0.5% in national or European elections or 1% in regional elections receives public money. This is therefore no longer the case for the NDP, but it continued to benefit from tax advantages, particularly with regard to donations, donations and inheritances.
This verdict is likely to fuel debates on the relevance of using this legal weapon to counter the rise of the AFD, the large far-right party. Thanks to the Karslruhe judgment, “we will know more about the concrete obstacles of such a procedure”observed Social Democratic MP Johannes Fechner before the decision. “This may also concern other parties”he added in reference to the AFD.
This party is in turmoil after the recent revelation that several of its members, including a close friend of its co-president, Alice Weidel, recently discussed the mass expulsion of people of foreign origin during a gathering of identitarians ultras. These revelations created an electric shock in Germany where giant demonstrations against the AFD, accused of being a danger to democracy, have been taking place throughout the country for several days.