One of Germany’s largest political parties, Alternative for Germany, has been debanked by a major banking chain following a campaign by activist group Grandmothers Against the Right. The Telegraph has the story.
Omas Gegen Rechts, or Grandmothers Against the Right, launched a petition to effectively debank the Alternative for Germany (AfD) as it warned the party poses a threat to Germany’s democratic order.
The campaign group’s Berlin faction targeted Berliner Volksbank, a major regional banking chain that ran the AfD’s donations account. Senior grandmother Bettina Kern later held a meeting with a bank board member, Carsten Jung, after handing in their petition.
The AfD this week removed the option to donate to the Berliner Volksbank account from its official website, prompting Omas Gegen Rechts to claim victory in their campaign.
“There is great news: Berliner Volksbank is apparently ending its business relations with the AfD, thereby responding to our innn.it petition, which now has more than 33,500 signatures,” the group announced.
Ms Kern, a 77-year-old grandmother, said they started the petition due to concerns that growing support for the AfD hinted at a possible return to Germany’s dark history.
“In Germany, grandmothers have a direct relationship with the Nazi past. Even if we were born after the war we know what a terrible period it was,” she told the Telegraph.
“We are of the opinion that it must never happen again and I personally believe that the AfD has now come to such extreme opinions, that the Government should ask our constitutional court to consider whether it should be forbidden.”
A spokesman for Berliner Volksbank declined to discuss the account in question. They said: “For reasons of banking secrecy and data protection, our company does not provide any information about presumed or existent accounts.”
Note they’re not “Grandmothers Against the Far Right” or “Grandmothers Against Nazis”. Just “against the Right”. Chilling.
I wonder if it has occurred to them that a far greater “threat to Germany’s democratic order” comes from those who think banks should withdraw services from “the Right”.
Worth reading in full.
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