Bundestag: Criticism of Union request on the neutrality of organizations

A union request for the political neutrality of non -governmental organizations meets broad outrage and also burdens the discussions on coalition formation with the SPD. Party leader Lars Klingbeil said that the request was the pillory of organizations that protected democracy. “That is why the Union now has to clarify how seriously it wants to go to discussions with social democracy.” Greens and the left warned of an attack on civil society. The Union justified its approach.

The background of the small request with 551 questions are the latest protests against the CDU, “some of which have been organized or supported by non -profit associations or state -financed organizations”, as it says. The protests are “a targeted party political influence” immediately before the Bundestag election, which is no longer covered by the right of non -profit law. Most recently there were demonstrations nationwide against the right and the CDU. One trigger for this was that the Union in the Bundestag had enforced a controversial application for a sharper migration policy with votes from the AfD.

Questions also about environmental and consumer advocates

The request has the date February 21, two days before the election. In it, the Union inquires about which non -profit corporations were promoted in the past election period with federal funds. This is followed by questions about actions, donations and political connections – including “Grandma’s against Right”, Campact, Attac, Amadeu Antonio Foundation, Peta, Foodwatch, German Environmental Aid, Agora Energy Wende, Greenpeace and the Journalist Organizations Correctiv, Network Research and the Association of New German Media Makers.

For example, it is asked: “Is there evidence that the association Grandmas against Right Germany is promoting one -sided narrative in political debates, and if so, which?” Or: “Do board members or managers from the Amadeu Antonio Foundation have political offices or close connections to parties?” Or: “When was the charity of German Environmental Aid e. V. examined for the last time by the responsible tax office?”

SPD parliamentary group leader speaks of “foul game”

Klingbeil, who was also elected SPD parliamentary group leader, gave the request a “foul”. With regard to possible coalition talks with the CDU and CSU, he said that he could not imagine sitting together in working groups in the morning and experiencing such inquiries from the Union in the afternoon. “The Union should be very quick again, whether it sticks to it.”

Green Group leader Britta Haßelmann called the request outrageously. “It all looks like that parts of civil society should be intimidated here,” she told the dpa. Left-wing MP Clara Bünger said that with the request, the Union is revenge for “the anti-fascist protests” and launched an attack on civil society. “This is reminiscent of authoritarian states and is extremely worrying in view of the fact that the Union will most likely be cited the next federal government.”

Criticism of “arbitrary list”

The consumer organization Foodwatch criticized, under the impression of the broad protests against working with the AfD, the Union Wüst strikes. “The fact that Foodwatch appears in the arbitrary list of organizations, although we were not involved in the demos against right -wing extremism at all, shows that the Union is about intimidating uncomfortable voices,” said Managing Director Chris Methmann.

The Amadeu Antonio Foundation, which according to its own statements arises against anti -Semitism, racism and right -wing extremism, criticized that organizations should be restricted in their ability to act and silenced. The research network rejected “the allegations contained in the questions” and called it “a dangerous development if the Union questions the non -profit organizations of established journalistic organizations”.

Mathias Middelberg defended the procedure for the Union. “Civil society engagement is essential and worthy of funding,” said the CDU politician. “However, publicly funded commitment should not be used for party political purposes.” For this reason, the Union made the request before the election. The examination of the right -wing use of tax funds is a core task of the parliament.

The Federal Government wants to answer the request with a high priority, as its spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said. It was “a royal law of parliament” to ask questions. At first, they are not evaluated. The Ministry of Finance is responsible for answering. A spokesman for the Interior Ministry generally said that the federal government “only promotes programs and projects that stand up for the free-democratic basic order and that must also be demonstrated accordingly”.