The German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs has funded a brochure that encourages youngsters to “take a clear stand against the right,” right-wing website Nius reports. The publication titled “Strong Against the Right: Youth Associations Against Right-Wing Influence” was released earlier this month and is reportedly authored by a Green Party spokesperson.
The brochure was produced by the Information and Documentation Center for Anti-Racism Work (IDA) in Düsseldorf, an organization that received €300,000 last year from Family Affairs Minister Karin Prien’s ‘Democracy Live!’ funding program. Since 2020, IDA has received a total of approximately €1.6 million from the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs.
The people behind IDA are the usual progressive lot with a customary ideological agenda. The head of the association is immigration lobbyist Ansgar Drücker, who also leads the group called Refugees Welcome in Düsseldorf (‘Flüchtlinge willkommen in Düsseldorf’). One of the co-authors, Lea Winterscheidt, previously served as a spokesperson for the Green Youth in Cologne. The chairwoman of the NGO, Zehra Bulut ran for local office for the SPD.
From the outset, the brochure makes clear that it is written in gender-sensitive language, explaining that “woman and man” are only a “concept” and that there are “many other gender identities.” The guide, financed with taxpayer money, introduces a framework in which conservative positions are classified as right-wing extremism. Within the text, “right-wing” and “right-wing extremist” are treated as interchangeable terms.
Youth associations in Germany are given guidance on “how they can deal pedagogically with right-wing tendencies of members” and “how the admission of right-wing members can be prevented or right-wing open members can be excluded.” The document explicitly abandons any distinction between “right-wing” and “right-wing extremist.” The authors state: “Right-wing is short for right-wing extremism, right-wing populism, or the extreme right. Other terms used include right-wing radicalism, right-wing terrorism.” As a result, conservative thinking is framed as terrorism.
The document names the AfD as the “leading right-wing populist or right-wing extremist party.”
Critics argue that essentially, the brochure is nothing but a tool, propped up with public funds, through which the ruling parties fight the political opposition. In this context, Minister Prien is accused of promoting anti-democratic ideas that discourage young people from viewing “right-wing” as a legitimate position within the political landscape.
The funding and content of the brochure have also drawn a sharp reaction from AfD leader Alice Weidel. In a post on X, she wrote: “The government is paying private individuals with taxpayer money to defame and suppress the opposition. This is anti-democratic and violates the rule of law. This NGO swamp must be drained immediately!”
Constitutional law expert Dietrich Murswiek argues that the funding violates the state’s duty of neutrality. “The brochure is an example of taxpayers’ money being used for purposes that the state is not allowed to pursue—namely, to combat a political ideology,” he said in an interview with Nius.
