A Brussels-based regulatory body has initiated proceedings that could strip the European political party Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN), which includes Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD), of its funding and official status.
The official reason cited is “non-compliance with EU values.”
The Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations (APPF) sent a 300-page letter to the Council of the European Union claiming it possesses “evidence” calling into question ESN’s adherence to the “European values enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union.”
As evidence, APPF director Pascal Schonard cited social media posts by Members of the European Parliament and members of parties affiliated with ESN. According to Schonard, these posts contain “anti-immigration, antisemitic, and anti-LGBT rhetoric,” including calls for remigration and portrayals of homosexuality as equivalent to pedophilia.
Particular attention was given to the Bulgarian party Revival, which Schonard accused of cooperating with Russia’s United Russia party and organizing attacks on a European Commission delegation in Sofia in February 2025.
In the case of AfD, the regulator referred to a May 2025 decision by German intelligence services classifying the party as right-wing extremist. However, it notably ignored a ruling by the Cologne Administrative Court that blocked this classification.
Not Just the EU: A Coordinated Campaign
Coincidentally or not, a campaign against AfD has also intensified within Germany itself.
Dr. Bernd Baumann, member of the AfD parliamentary leadership in the Bundestag and the Council of Elders, wrote on social media:
“Friedrich Merz’s CDU is morally and strategically finished. A 34-page brochure against AfD is circulating at party headquarters — one that will go down in history as a document of democratic decay. Full of lies, legally debunked myths, and unbelievable malice.”
Baumann categorically rejected accusations of antisemitism contained in the brochure:
“And what does the CDU claim in this brochure? It even highlights it in red: ‘AfD is trying to make Jewish life in Germany impossible.’ What audacity and wickedness. The exact opposite is true. It is we, the AfD, who for years have introduced parliamentary initiatives to protect Jewish life in Germany and defend the Jewish people’s right to exist.”
According to Baumann, the primary threat to Jews in Germany today comes from radical Islamists.
“And this violence, as everyone knows, is above all on the conscience of the CDU because of the uncontrolled admission of millions of migrants from cultures hostile to Jews. AfD is the only party in parliament consistently advocating for the protection of Jewish life. What a disgrace for the CDU to claim otherwise.”
He also accused the CDU brochure of spreading the so-called “Correctiv lie” about alleged plans to deport German citizens — claims that German courts have prohibited public broadcasters ARD and ZDF from repeating. Yet, according to Baumann, the CDU continues to publish them willingly.
“Those who have such ‘master strategists’ no longer need enemies. Friedrich Merz is not only insulting millions of AfD voters, but is chaining himself ever tighter with a ‘firewall’ to the dying SPD. This alliance is finished. Autumn will bring a breakthrough!”
ESN Under Pressure
The ESN party was founded by AfD after the 2024 European Parliament elections, following AfD’s expulsion from the Identity and Democracy group.
The alliance also includes Bulgaria’s Revival, France’s Reconquête, Poland’s Confederation, the Czech SPD, Hungary’s Our Homeland Movement, and others.
ESN President Stanislav Stoyanov stated that the party “does not have a mandate to directly interfere in the affairs of its member parties,” but remains “committed to the core values of the European Union through ongoing dialogue.”
The German parliament has already discussed the possibility of asking the Constitutional Court to ban AfD. Now Brussels appears to be joining the effort.
AfD, meanwhile, is using these attempts to strengthen its support base, presenting them as proof that “the system fears the voice of the people.”
So far, neither the European Parliament, the European Commission, nor the Council of the EU has officially requested an APPF investigation. But if that happens, ESN could lose more than €2 million in subsidies.
