Governments screwed it up. For years now, black/red or the traffic light has had time to pass a law that clearly regulates the financing of party-affiliated foundations. Nothing happened. And so the AfD-affiliated Desiderius Erasmus Foundation (DES) could now benefit from a legal loophole that the democratic parties, out of self-interest, have not closed. This is how a democracy abolishes itself!
If the Alternative for Germany (AfD) were a normal, democratic party, one would say: Of course, the foundation of this party is also entitled to tax money. And that is exactly the sticking point: neither is the AfD a normal party, nor is the DES a normal foundation. To speak of “right-wing ties” would be a gross understatement. The DES is the right edge. Anti-democrats in intellectual garb, a brown swamp in pinstripes.
If you believe their website, the DES stands for “The promotion of science and research as well as the scientific education and training of talented young people. The international attitude, international understanding, tolerance in all areas of culture and the idea of international understanding.”
They have often shown publicly what those responsible understand by this: DES Chairwoman Erika Steinbach claimed, for example, that children of AfD members are “the new Jewish children” and that the NSDAP was actually a “left-wing party”. Historical revisionism, Nazi comparisons, anti-Semitism: DES members are no strangers to any of this.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s statements like that of the AfD member of parliament and DES member Marc Jongen, who rants that a passport “doesn’t make a German” and that he is therefore in favor of a “principle of descent”, or the numerous connections to right-wing extremists like the publisher Götz Kubitschek or the fascist Björn Höcke: All of this shows that the DES is a gathering place of right-wing to right-wing extremist ideologues. A foundation whose members obviously reject the democratic state must not receive any tax revenue!
For decades, the party-affiliated foundations in Germany were a single gray area. It wasn’t really clear why who got how much money – but it was plentiful. And so everyone from the Left to the Union could agree to let everything run in such a questionable way, as long as the millions that the foundations received didn’t ebb away. Don’t ask, say nothing, just collect.
This is going to change. And that’s right. Foundations that want to contribute to political decision-making are important. They do pioneering political work, but they must be funded transparently. On the other hand, foundations that seek to infiltrate societies with their right-wing extremist ideologies deserve nothing but contempt.
Sources: Tweet Erika Steinbach, homepage Desiderius Erasmus Foundation, research ZDF Magazin Royale
