Mertz asked for a check how apolitical they were funded by the state NGO
German candidate conservative candidate, Friedrich Merz, has drawn criticism, including his likely future coalition partner, with 31 pages of parliamentary issues, which some have taken on an attack on the German civil society, Reuters reported.
The document, signed by Merz as a parliamentary leader of the Right -Right -State Party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), sets to its going government, led by the Social Democrats (GSPD), 551 questions whether the civil society groups have received state funding, are political, are political -based.
They do not abate the protests against the « alternative to Germany » after the neo -Nazi meeting in Patds
- The groups mentioned in the CDU documentation is, for example, « grandmothers against the right », which organized protests against the « Alternative to Germany » (AFD) after the far-right party joined the Merz Conservatives to help accept a conservative proposal, calling for more stringent immigration control. « How much gets from the state » grandmothers against the right, « the legislators asked. » Are there any links between them and certain parties or political actors? «
- Another organization cited in the statement is Correctiv, a portal for investigative journalism, which revealed that some of the highest -ranking AFD employees have discussed the deportation of « poorly integrated » naturalized German citizens.
« The issue of the political neutrality of the state -supported organizations currently provokes increasing debates. The context is protests against the CDU, some of which have been organized or supported by non -profit associations or state -funded organizations. For non -profit purposes, « the questionnaire wrote in the introductory words.
The text recalls that according to the Tax Code, « the association is for non-profit, if it pursues non-profit, charity or church purposes and does not act in a party-political way. » According to the inquiries, « direct or indirect support of the election campaign – whether for or against a particular party – is incompatible with the principle of equal opportunities. On the other hand, non -profit organizations are allowed to operate as political education as long as they do not deliberately act in favor of a particular party. »
Some votes see NGOs as a shady structure that indirectly pursues state funds.
An example is also given with an environmental organization, explaining that « environmental policy is inextricably linked to political decisions, and lawyers constitutionalists criticize that such activities go beyond the actual charity goal. »
Prof. Oliver Lembke: The CDU is no longer Merkel's party, but of the conservative mertz
« The groups -backed groups have the right to influence public opinion, provided that they remain neutral to political parties, » said Christian Democrat MP Matias Mitelberg, quoted by Reuters. « With our parliamentary question, we want to see if this is so, » Midelberg said that the inquiry, one of the first, published after the Sunday election, was prepared before the vote.
| The question provoked criticism from the GSDP, the preferred partner of Merz in a future coalition government. |
« I cannot imagine a situation where we are negotiating in the morning for investment in the army, railways and infrastructure, and in the afternoon conservatives call into question the organizations that protect our democracy, » said Lars Kingbale, until recently the leader of the party's parliamentary group.
« Conservatives really have to decide how seriously they want to accept their negotiations with the Social Democrats … They really need to think very well whether they are sticking to these questions, » he added.
The left party said the CDU questionnaire was « shame » and compared it to « the ultimate right -wing methods. »
:format(webp)/s3/static.nrc.nl/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/19171644/data132518834-9ea30f.jpg "John Heitinga will be new head coach Ajax, Marcel Keizer Assistant")
