The German Constitutional Court has ruled that the far-right Heimat party, once known by the acronym NPD, can no longer receive public funding because it poses a risk to the democratic system. It’s a sentence that, according to some experts, could open the door to the exclusion from state funds of the AfD, Germany’s main far-right political force and the second national party in terms of consensus, according to recent polls. .
The Constitutional Court’s decision was not clear: in 2017 the then NPD was in danger of having its public contributions cut off, but the same Court pardoned the party, despite the fact that it had unconstitutional goals and had a “substantial similarity to National Socialism”. was too small to pose a real problem for democracy. The NPD, which became the Heimat, did not grow over time, on the contrary: precisely because of the poor election results, the party did not reach the necessary consensus to receive state funding. On the other hand, it preserved the tax deductions provided to parties on donations and private contributions. You will now lose your right to benefit from these benefits due to the court decision.
According to the judges, Heimat aims to replace the current constitutional order with an authoritarian state directed at the ethnic “national community”. His political understanding belittles the human dignity of everyone who does not belong to this “national community” and is incompatible with the principle of democracy. In other words, Heimat members put forward racist theses that are very similar to Nazism.
The fate of public funds provided to the AfD may also be in danger at this point. The party, which has over 20 percent of the votes in the polls, is at the center of a political scandal after a meeting between some of its leading supporters and members of the German neo-Nazi galaxy was revealed. At this meeting, the plan for deporting immigrants and German citizens of foreign origin abroad will be discussed.
These statements sparked controversy in a country where the wound of Nazism is still open. More than a million people have taken to the streets in recent days to protest the AfD. Many within the majority ranks, particularly among the Social Democrats and Greens, have raised the possibility of shutting down the far-right party. This hypothesis seems unlikely to be pursued. According to some lawyers, the path that would lead to the AfD’s exclusion from public funds is more feasible. The Constitutional Court’s decision on Heimat could set a precedent.
Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
