Banks begin to close AFD's accounts

Published 13 July 2024 at 10.41

Foreign. Berliner Volksbank has ended Germany's bank account options after pressure from a left-wing group.

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The news was announced by the aunts petition “Omas gegen Rechts” (“Grandmothers against the right”), a boomer­initiative for older women who do not like the AFD and call banks to close the party's accounts.

The petition gathered over 33,500 signatures.

Official confirmations from the bank and the party are not yet available. However, the Volksbank account has disappeared from the AFD website. According to the newspaper Welt, donations are now only collected via giro or Paypal.

According to Welt, “Omas gegen Rechts” met the director of the Berliner Volksbank, Carsten Jung, last Wednesday. It is unclear why the head of the bank met the left-wing group.

The official reason for the account closure, according to the bank, is that the AFD stands “outside the constitutional order.”

Berliner Volksbank actively participated in protests against right-wing extremism in Germany at the start of the year.

The AFD came second in last month's EU parliamentary elections and is leading several state opinion polls, particularly in eastern Germany.

This measure comes while other conservative and right-wing politicians have faced similar campaigns worldwide.

Previously, Nigel Farage, MP and party leader of Reform UK, had his bank account closed in 2023 because of his conservative views.

Even the owner of this newspaper, Widar Nord, has had his bank accounts closed by Swedbank for the same reason, which however led him to sue the bank and Swedbank was ordered to open the account again.