In the debate about how to deal with the AfD, politicians from the SPD and the Greens also see cutting funding as an option. The parliamentary managing director of the SPD parliamentary group, Johannes Fechner, told the “Handelsblatt” on Monday that the procedure for exclusion from party financing anchored in the Basic Law is “an important element of the defensive state to significantly reduce state resources for anti-constitutional parties.”
He referred to a ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court expected on Tuesday on the question of whether the right-wing extremist NPD can continue to benefit from state party financing. “We will then know more about the specific hurdles of such a procedure,” said Fechner. “This can then also affect other parties,” he added, referring to the AfD.
According to the “Handelsblatt” report, the Greens also see cutting state money as a possible option, but point out that this measure also “makes a lot of prerequisites”. “Just as with a party ban, the constitutional bodies are required to carefully weigh up legal steps, taking into account the assessment of the security authorities,” said Green Party parliamentary group leader Irene Mihalic to the newspaper.
Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) had already discussed cutting funding for the AfD from state party funding. With a view to the Federal Constitutional Court’s expected decision on the NPD, the CSU leader told the “Handelsblatt”: “That would also be a blueprint for the AfD.”
