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On 27.2.26 at 17:49, we received notification from the Federal Ministry of the Interior via our lawyer Dr Ulrich Vosgerau that our non-profit political foundation is still being denied the state funding to which it has been entitled since 1 January 2026. The Ministry is still examining whether we fulfil all the criteria of the Foundation Financing Act.
This should have happened long ago. Since the federal election in February 2025, it has been clear that the DES is to receive state funding from 1 January 2026 in accordance with the Foundation Funding Act, provided it fulfils all constitutional criteria. The DES submitted its application for funding back in March 2025.
The necessary review should have started right then. But at the latest with the introduction of the 2026 budget, where it was clear that funds were earmarked for the political foundations. Regardless of the amount.
This did not happen. Instead, we only received a 14-point catalogue of questions shortly before Christmas on 11.12.25, which had to be answered by 9 January. With more than 30 pages, we answered these questions before Christmas and forwarded them to the Ministry.
Among other things, we were required to submit all annual reports and all annual financial statements since DES was founded in 2017 and to provide not only the place of residence of all 60 members of the association, but also their date and place of birth, which of course we did not have, but first had to be asked for.
We are absolutely certain that we fulfil all legal requirements.
We consider this entire procedure to be more than just pure harassment. It is an unscrupulous frontal attack against the most elementary principles of the rule of law and democracy and an attack against equal opportunities, even for the AfD, which is close to us. This action is in line with the indisputable, harassing treatment of the AfD parliamentary group in the Bundestag. I am not aware of any opposition party in the EU that is treated in such an anti-democratic manner. Living democracies can be recognised by the way they treat the opposition.
However, our ongoing discrimination will not prevent us from continuing to stand up resolutely for democracy and the rule of law and for the recovery of the basic principles of democracy and the rule of law that have been lost, even if these are disregarded and shamelessly trampled underfoot by the parties currently in power.
Erika Steinbach
Chairperson