German court bans far-right Heimat party from receiving state funds

Germany's extremist far-right party Die Heimat (The Homeland), formerly known as the National Democratic Party (NPD), has been banned from receiving any state funding for the next six years, reported dpa.

The decision was made by Germany's Constitutional Court on Tuesday after lengthy proceedings. Die Heimat will also be stripped of preferential tax treatment generally afforded to parties and political donations.

In 2017, the Constitutional Court ruled that the party, then known as the NPD, was hostile to Germany's constitutional and democratic order. But the court decided against banning the fringe party, arguing that it received too little support to be a viable threat.

Parliament responded by passing a new law that allows extremist parties to be stripped of state funding and tax benefits. Tuesday's decision is the first time that law has been applied.

The decision is likely to fuel ongoing debate over a possible ban against the Alternative for Germany (AfD), a far more popular far-right party with links to extremists.

Recent polls have put the AfD at over 20% nationwide, and the AfD appears to be in position to finish first in state elections in three eastern German states this autumn.

Political parties in Germany receive state funding for election campaigns and other work based on a formula that considers vote share and other factors. But parties must receive at least a minimal number of votes in recent state, federal or European Union elections.

The NPD hasn't hit that threshold since 2021, when the party gathered 3.02% of the vote in the eastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and no longer receives any state funding.