The western German city of Essen has terminated a rental agreement with the anti-globalist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party for an events centre where the party is planning to organise its congress at the end of June. The cancellation bears similarities with attempts to ban the National Conservatism (NatCon) conference in Brussels in April, and is another sign of how liberal elites try to silence their political opponents instead of debating them.
The agreement to rent out the Grugahalle, a multi-purpose indoor arena, was established last January between the AfD and the city of Essen, which is a majority shareholder of the exhibition area that incorporates the Grugahalle.
The first mention of a possible ban came early this year, following a hit piece on AfD by the left-wing, government-funded media outlet Correctiv, which falsely accused the party of being involved in a right-wing plot to deport millions of migrants, including those with German citizenship. The article led to nationwide-demonstrations against the AfD, with more and more mainstream politicians calling for the party to be banned.
This political pressure led to the city of Essen debating whether they should ban the party congress due to “current developments” and “security concerns.” A protest against AfD outside the events centre is also expected, and Essen’s Mayor Thomas Kufen (of the centre-right CDU) announced that “AfD is not welcome” and that he would not just be participating, but be “at the forefront of” such a demonstration.
Despite the threats, AfD went ahead with plans to organise the congress, but weeks before the event was set to take place, the city of Essen made a peculiar demand: the party would have to agree to prevent banned Nazi slogans from being used during the conference, such as “Everything for Germany,” otherwise they would be forced to pay a fine of €500,000 for each such remark. The AfD refused to sign such a statement, and Essen terminated the contract this week.
AfD federal executive board member Roman Reusch called the actions of the city of Essen “illegal,” saying “a legally valid contract cannot be modified unilaterally.” The party is taking legal action against the city. Party co-chairman Alice Weidel told daily Bild she was convinced that the court would deliver a verdict in AfD’s favour, meaning that the congress could commence as planned.
The events are reminiscent of attempts to cancel the National Conservatism conference in Brussels in April, attended by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and former UKIP leader Nigel Farage. Two venues were pressured into cancelling the event at the very last minute, and when a third venue accepted to host it just hours before the start, local district Mayor Emir Kir tried to shut it down by sending the police to the event. He admitted that he was not doing it to prevent public disorder (as the official excuse stated), but simply to strip the “far right” of its platform. A legal intervention by the organisers and a favourable court verdict was needed for the conference to resume.
AfD has been growing in popularity in recent years due to its criticism of the left-liberal government’s policies which have resulted in a cost-of-living and energy crisis, and an influx of migrants to the country. The party is projected to finish second at this weekend’s European elections, with around 15-16% of the votes, but polling suggests it may have had its wings clipped by a recent scandal that resulted in the party being expelled from the right-wing Identity and Democracy group in the European Parliament.
