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Weimar Council Ends Direct Funding for Anti-Extremism Alliance in Narrow Vote

City leaders redirect democracy spending into open grant pools that the network must now compete for.

Overview

  • The council voted 19–18 to remove the €30,000 annual subsidy for the Bündnis gegen Rechtsextremismus, with some reports noting an abstention.
  • The motion came from the CDU and Weimarwerk/Bürgerbündnis, and the slim majority relied on two councillors from the AfD splinter group Freies Bündnis Weimar, while the AfD itself did not back it.
  • Under the new setup, a €100,000 citizen budget will be created with one third earmarked for democracy projects, alongside a separate €30,000 fund open to all initiatives, including the alliance.
  • Roughly 400–450 people demonstrated outside the meeting, and Buchenwald memorial director Jens-Christian Wagner condemned the move as a fatal political signal.
  • In a separate decision, councillors tasked Mayor Peter Kleine with opening talks with the state education ministry to try to preserve the Thüringenkolleg in Weimar.