Germany Grants Municipalities Power To Block AfD Property Purchases

Germany's SPD Construction Minister unveiled a draft law granting municipalities a right of first refusal to block property purchases if there is even a mere suspicion that the buyer harbors anti-constitutional goals.

“The regime of uniform thought takes a new step in Germany”

Breizh-info

The law defines anti-constitutional efforts as any active legal pursuit that might have political effects sooner or later.

Breizh-info

Local authorities would gain unprecedented access to private data from the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the BKA.

The provision is widely understood as targeting the right-wing Alternative für Deutschland, now Germany's largest opposition party.

AfD parliamentary spokesperson Marc Bernhard condemned the proposal as unconstitutional extremism by the SPD.

The draft law authorizes municipalities to request information about prospective buyers from the Verfassungsschutz and the BKA.

The Verfassungsschutz operates under the authority of the Interior Ministry and is subject to the political direction of the government.

Brussels Signal

The bill clarifies that the activities in question do not have to be illegal to trigger intervention.

Breizh-info reported that the Verfassungsschutz is not an independent body but subject to the political tutelage of the government in power.

The involvement of the intelligence service places intelligence assessments close to decisions that would directly affect private transactions.

The proposed law would create a mechanism that operates in the same conceptual space as efforts to designate the AfD as anti-constitutional.

“Germany could bar AfD politicians from buying property New proposals include granting local authorities the right to stop individuals deemed ‘anti-constitutional’ from purchasing real estate in their municipalities”

ICLG

Decisions about who can buy certain properties would no longer turn solely on price and planning law, but also on an assessment of political conduct and belief.

Observers warn the new law may set the stage for political ideology tests for real estate buyers.

The AfD's rise in popularity and the SPD's repeated attempts to ban the party provide the wider political backdrop.

The draft law was buried within a 174-page document and omitted from the ministry's press release.