This move is the latest in a series of actions by which German companies distance themselves from the AfD, writes Euronews, as reported by Index.
Verbund Volksbank OWL and Volksbank in Ostwestfalen confirmed to local media that they had terminated the accounts of the AfD’s regional branch in Minden-Lübbecke, but declined to give details citing bank secrecy.
AfD said that their account is necessary for regular business.
“Private individuals, companies, political parties or factions: they all need a bank account. Regular payments, such as employee salaries, are processed through this account,” read their statement.
Accusations of “debanking”
The head of the AfD’s regional branch, Sebastian Landwehr, condemned the decision aimed at what he said was “the biggest opposition party in Germany”.
“Since there are no irregularities on the part of the AfD district association and the reliability of the district association has not changed, only one explanation remains: This is the so-called ‘debanking’, that is, the politically motivated cancellation of the account,” said Landwehr.
More and more companies are turning their backs on the AfD
This is not the first such case. In January of this year, the Volksbank Düsseldorf-Neuss closed the account of the local AfD branch.
In the summer of 2024, the Berliner Volksbank closed the donation account of the party’s federal organization following a petition by the group “Grandmothers Against the Right”, while last September Deutsche Kreditbank canceled the accounts and cards of the newly elected AfD politician from Thuringia. After the latest move, the party called on all “democratically oriented clients of the Volksbank” to “switch to another bank”.
The pressure on the party is growing outside the banking sector as well.
Companies such as Deutsche Bahn, Siemens and Miele have campaigned against the AfD ahead of the federal election, claiming the party’s views conflict with their values.
Legal and political context
The situation is further complicated by the fact that the German Office for the Protection of the Constitution classified the AfD as a confirmed right-wing extremist organization in May.
Such a classification gives legal weight to private companies’ decisions to treat a party as a security risk.
German media reports that banks owned by their members are legally allowed to close AfD accounts.
However, public savings banks (Sparkassen) are required to maintain accounts for political parties, which was confirmed by a 2018 ruling of the Federal Administrative Court that invoked the constitutionally guaranteed privileges of parties. This means that the AfD is left with accounts in public banks as an option.
(Vijesti.ba)
