The centre-right CDU/CSU alliance—which won the German national elections on Sunday, February 23rd—wants to know the extent to which left-wing organisations were financed by the German state to protest “against the Right.”
The CDU/CSU’s parliamentary group submitted a total of 551 questions to the government to demand answers about which organisations received money from which federal funding programmes, and whether there is a direct link between these associations and “certain parties or political actors.”
The letter was a reaction to revelations made in German right-wing media, stating that millions of taxpayer euros were spent supporting organisations that have been holding demonstrations against their perceived threat of the ‘far right.’
Left-wing groups have been organising protests all across Germany not only against the right-wing Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party but also against the CDU/CSU after it broke a longstanding political taboo by accepting the AfD’s votes to push through an anti-immigration motion in parliament in January. Centre-right politicians have since been threatened and their party offices vandalised by left-wing hooligans.
Ministries led by the outgoing Social Democrat-Greens government have granted millions of euros of taxpayers’ money to these organisations.
In recent years, most of the money and effort have gone into attacking and undermining the credibility of the AfD, the party that has challenged the ruling elites and the mainstream media. As we reported earlier, publicly funded media outlets have continued to spread fake news about the party, despite court rulings instructing them to stop spreading disinformation.
But now CDU leader Friedrich Merz, too, finds himself in the crosshairs of the leftists and liberals for daring to cooperate with the AfD on one single issue.
Following his party’s request for information about the NGOs mentioned above, far-left Die Linke MP Clara Bünger said CDU/CSU is “launching an unprecedented attack on democratic civil society,” adding that “this is reminiscent of authoritarian states.” Green politician Sven Giegold called the CDU/CSU’s move an obvious attempt “at intimidation even before Merz’s chancellorship has even begun.”
Merz is set to become chancellor following his party’s election victory but will have to rely on the Social Democrats (SPD)—his proclaimed enemy—to form a coalition government as he is not willing to work together with the AfD.
This naturally means that compromises will have to be made, making it hard to imagine that the centre-right will start rummaging around in the SPD-led ministries to search for links between the party and the state-funded leftist organisations.
SPD parliamentary group head Lars Klingbeil noted this on Wednesday, accusing the CDU/CSU of “foul play” and urging them to “quickly reflect” on whether they wanted to pursue their questions.
The controversy coincides with sovereigntist Slovak PM Robert Fico criticising the role of NGOs in Slovakian politics.
