On Tuesday, December 23rd, the Federal Constitutional Court decided to withdraw all public funding from the neo-Nazi party “Die Heimat” for six years, in particular because of its “racist, especially anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic and anti-Gypsy” attitude. .
The German Constitutional Court decided on Tuesday, December 23, to deprive a small neo-Nazi party of all public funding for six years, paving the way for possible similar proceedings against the Alternative for Germany (AfD). The NPD party, which was renamed “Die Heimat” last year, “continues to strive to replace the existing constitutional order with an “authoritarian nation state” in disregard of human dignity and the democratic principle of the Basic Law,” the court said in its ruling. She explained that the party's “racist attitude, particularly anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic and anti-Gypsyism”, violated Germany's constitutional principles.
Despite its insignificance on the political stage – with around 3,000 members according to official figures – the group has a nationwide network, in particular a nationalist youth organization or associations at the local level, the court emphasizes. It organizes rallies, folk festivals and hikes to convey its racist ideology and tries to have a “strong presence” at citizen demonstrations. So much so that in 2011 the federal government considered initiating proceedings to ban the neo-Nazi party NPD, which was close to the right-wing extremist terrorist cell, which was particularly suspected of the murder of nine foreigners.
“Not a cent of government funding”
“The forces that want to dismantle and destroy our democracy must not receive a cent of state funding,” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser responded in a statement. In 2019, the Bundestag, Bundesrat and federal government called for the abolition of the subsidies and benefits granted to this party. Every party in Germany that achieves at least 0.5% in federal or European elections or 1% in state elections receives public money. This is no longer the case for the NDP, but it continued to benefit from tax advantages, particularly with regard to gifts, gifts and inheritances.
This ruling is likely to fuel debates about the relevance of using this legal weapon to combat the rise of the AFD, the major far-right party. Thanks to the Karlsruhe ruling, “we will learn more about the concrete obstacles to such a procedure,” remarked Social Democratic MP Johannes Fechner before the decision. “This could also affect other parties,” he added, referring to the AfD.
This party is in turmoil following recent revelations that several of its members, including a close friend of its co-leader, Alice Weidel, recently discussed the mass expulsion of people of foreign origin during a gathering of identity ultras. These revelations caused an electric shock in Germany, where huge demonstrations have been taking place across the country for several days against the AfD, which is accused of posing a threat to democracy.