Bundestag: “This is a real affront to civil society”

Hardly anyone in the CDU could ignore the "Grandmas against the right" recently. "Now it's 13," the grandmas declared at the end of January, "stop the shift to the right in the CDU" - and drummed up a demonstration in front of the party headquarters. Where citizens recently demonstrated for the preservation of the firewall against the AfD, the grandmas were there with their posters. But now the Union is striking back.

Since Monday, a minor inquiry from the Union faction has been made public, which tackles many civil society groups in a sensitive area: money. Although "minor" inquiry is an understatement in this case. In 551 questions, the Union wants to find out from the federal government which of its critics received how much money. The Omas gegen rechts also appear in the inquiry, and even prominently. They are a "particularly controversial example", writes the Union faction, after all the association received funding from the "Live Democracy !" program. Similar accusations have been made against environmental associations such as BUND, "which interfere in political debates", the inquiry states.

The Union has many questions about many groups. It is interested in funding for campaign organizations such as Campact, the anti-globalization network Attac, BUND and Greenpeace . But the group also has the Recherche network in its sights, as well as the journalist network Correctiv , which attracted attention last year with its research into a right-wing extremist meeting in Potsdam. The MPs even have critical questions about the animal welfare organizations Peta and Animals Watch, Foodwatch and the think tanks Agora Energiewende and Agora Agrar.

The questions are similar for all organizations. They always ask whether they are non-profit and whether they have received state funding. And then there is the question of whether they clearly take sides in their work. "State-funded organizations must maintain their political neutrality," says the Union faction. Instead, there are indications that groups "that publicly position themselves as politically left-wing" receive money from ministries. These, in turn, are now very busy - 551 questions need to be answered first.

In fact, money did flow in some cases, although not always a lot. For example, the Interior Ministry had already admitted last year that the Grandmas against the Right had received a whopping 18,294 euros from the "Live Democracy!" project since the beginning of 2022. And in a response to another minor inquiry, the federal government wrote that it does not support the Campact e.V. association - but that the association is a co-shareholder of Hate Aid gGmbH, which is supported. For example, in 2024, a project by Hate Aid gGmbH was supported by the Federal Ministry of Justice with 599,989.19 euros.

Campact had called for demonstrations against Friedrich Merz's "isolation policy". The association also says it donated 233,300 euros to the Greens, 160,000 euros to the SPD and 68,038 euros to the Left Party last year. However, the association claims that it does not receive "any funds from HateAid gGmbH" and does not participate in the profits of the non-profit organization.

The organizations concerned see the Union's move primarily as an attempt to silence them. Or, as the Grandmas against the Right put it, "to delegitimize a democratic, civil society movement from below." There is great outrage. "A vital democracy requires a critical civil society," says Campact boss Felix Kolb. "Anyone who wants to suppress this is shaking the foundations of democracy."

So, just a few days after its election victory, the Union now has more problems, not fewer. "This is a real affront to civil society," said Greenpeace boss Martin Kaiser to the Süddeutsche Zeitung . "For us, it is a question of attitude, but also of responsibility, to stand up for democracy." And, in addition to many organizations, churches and unions were also on the streets. It is "scandalous" that the Union is now singling out specific organizations.

The reaction of the SPD is likely to be even more painful. Its leader Lars Klingbeil spoke on Wednesday of a "foul play"; organizations that protect democracy are being pilloried. The Union must therefore now clarify for itself "how seriously it wants to enter into talks with the Social Democrats," said Klingbeil. It would be better if it "reconsidered very quickly whether it is sticking to this."