family Business Association Shifts Stance on AfD Engagement
BERLIN – The Association of Family Businesses is reassessing its approach to engagement with the far-right Option for Germany (AfD) party, a move welcomed by leading figures from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social democratic Party (SPD). The reversal comes amid growing internal and external pressure regarding the association’s previous willingness to collaborate with the AfD.
The association’s earlier openness to dialog with the AfD sparked controversy, raising concerns about normalizing a party widely considered to be extremist. This shift in policy reflects anxieties within the business community about potential repercussions, including membership losses and financial impacts. The decision underscores the increasing scrutiny faced by organizations considering engagement with the AfD, and signals a potential recalibration of business-political relations in Germany.
CDU employee wing federal chairman Dennis Radtke commented on the change, stating to the Handelsblatt that ”the threat of loss of members and income seems to be having an effect on entrepreneurs.”
Thuringia’s Interior Minister georg Maier (SPD) also acknowledged the change of course, but criticized the association’s initial move toward the AfD as a “serious mistake” that risked ”promoting the normalization of an ethnic-nationalist party,” as he told the Handelsblatt.