German government seeks to cut funding for far-right party

July 19, 2019 - 9:31 am

BERLIN (AP) — The German government and parliament have petitioned the country's highest court to cut off public funding for a far-right party that authorities tried unsuccessfully to ban.

The Interior Ministry said the application to cut funding for the National Democratic Party was sent Friday to the Federal Constitutional Court. Officials want to exclude it from a system granting political parties funds based on their performance in elections. It isn't clear when the court will decide.

In 2017, the court ruled that the party was too politically insignificant to justify a ban but said its goals run counter to the German constitution. In a national election later that year, it received just 0.4% of the vote as far-right voters backed the nationalist, anti-migration Alternative for Germany party instead.

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