Underground money "Alternatives for Germany"

A number of German media turned to the topic of illegal financing of the Alternative for Germany. The party leader reacted to the accusations quite calmly. The expert comments on the situation.

Recall that the party "Alternative for Germany" was created in 2013. It is right and populist; In 2017, she first went to Bundestag, receiving 24 mandates. Thus, her faction was the largest opposition faction in the lower house of the German parliament.

As the Kommersant newspaper specified, the appearance of a party in parliament, which was to the right than the traditionally conservative Christian-Democratic Union (CDU), caused protests.

It was the 2017 campaign that gave a reason to investigate the terms of financing the party, the publication notes. The first to talk about this was the newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung and the NDR and WDR television and radio company. They reported that from July to September 2017, one of the Swiss pharmaceutical companies transferred the party 130 thousand euros; And in February 2018, from the Dutch Identiteit Europa Dutch Fund, another 150 thousand euros to the Alternatives accounts.

Congress of the Alternative for Germany / Flickr.com

The media emphasized that it was illegal to hide this. At the same time, the newspaper notes, speaking on November 21 in the Bundestag, the chairman of the Adg faction Alis Weidel only stated that "mistakes were made in work with donations." However, according to her, "no one was enriched on this and did not try to conceal anything."

The party itself noted that the funds in both cases were not spent, but were returned to the senders, but the media continue to insist on the dubious background of these stories. The press hints that Vaidel could be familiar with the donors, and emphasizes that those notorious transfers entered the accounts of her constituency, and were sent back only a few months later.

About why, in relation to the populist “Alternatives for Germany” there were so many complaints about financing and what its features are generally concluded, Ilya Grashchenkov, President of the Center for Development of Regional Policy, spoke with Polit.ru.

Ilya Grashchenkov

“The Alternative for Germany Party for Germany itself is a very complex construct. If you remember, the party has a completely different social structure in the West in the East of the country. In accordance with the usual ideas for Russians, parties are always built by vertical type: there are federal councils and some local committees, which, if they have independence, are within their region. And in Germany differently.

So, in the West and East of Germany, the device “Alternatives for Germany” varies: in the West it is more anarcho-syndicalist, includes a variety of right-dressing elements, which are quite radical in relation to the agenda; In the east, it actually revives the right wing of the old communist party. There are gradually migrated by former left neo -Marxist philosophers and so on.

As a result, it turns out in a kind of anti-irarchical party with an extensive system, and for its opponents (primarily in the person of SDPG and CDS-CSS), it turns out to be extremely complex. The “alternative for Germany” constantly “bites” these parties - and “bites” quite large pieces of their electorate. And how to fight with her is generally incomprehensible, because, for example, an attack on the radicals of the party in the West has no results for this moderate party in the east of the country.

Voting of deputies / Flickr.com

I think that therefore, in the interests of the party-rival party, the Alternatives begins the struggle in such a legal way. Since they somehow need to fight her, but how else can it be? And in this way it is possible to identify those non -structural elements that, in the one hand, are the power of “alternatives”, and on the other - its weakness. The process of financing such a party can really be heterogeneous.

Suppose there are people interested in the anti -migrant agenda in the West of Germany. They are right -handed, and financing of relevant events can really follow a certain illegal scheme. As a result, on the one hand, the fact that the party is at the forefront of key topics adds a rating for it, and on the other hand, the legal side can be clung to it.

Demonstrators against politics A. Merkel / Flickr.com

I think that there will be more such “tingling” and “biting” from the side of the establishment, because it became clear that the “alternative” began to pose a real threat to him. In the last elections, she still scored a lot, namely that “bite off” the electorate of other parties, and for them it was painful, especially for parties that are now experiencing an internal decline.

So the establishment mobilizes its capabilities in the fight against its hard -to -acting opponents, trying to drive them into the legal framework. And this is logical, because the further, the more the “alternative” will bite more. This is a purely populist project, and always just say something on a loud topic. For example, that, they say, Merkel supported the proposals for migrants - and we are against it! But the party does not have a positive agenda, put it to solve the problem - it will not solve anything. However, she collects voices, and how to resist this, another question.

Well, they are trying to do this, driving an alternative into a strict legality. In general, they act in other countries, ”said Ilya Grashchenkov.