Party wants to sue
City of Essen cancels rental agreement for AfD party conference
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At the end of June, the AfD wants to meet for its party conference in the Grugahalle in Essen. However, since the party does not want to accept compliance with certain conditions in advance, the city is thwarting its plans – and terminating the rental contract.
The city of Essen has terminated the rental contract for the AfD party conference, which was to take place at the end of June in the Grugahalle on the Essen exhibition grounds. “The contract has been terminated in just a few minutes,” explained a spokeswoman for the city. There are no objections from the district government, and all questions have been clarified with the municipal authorities. The city of Essen, as the majority shareholder in the trade fair, had demanded that the AfD accept conditions at its party conference that were accompanied by threats of high fines. The AfD had rejected the demands.
At the end of May, the city of Essen decided that the AfD had to make a commitment before the party conference. In it, the party was to declare by June 4 that it would prevent criminal statements such as the slogan “Everything for Germany” or immediately stop such violations. Otherwise, the party would face a contractual penalty of 500,000 euros for each violation. Without the corresponding assurances, the rental contract for the event hall was to be terminated immediately.
AfD federal executive board member Roman Reusch called the actions of the trade fair and the city of Essen “illegal” on Tuesday evening. “A legally valid contract cannot – at least in a constitutional state – be subsequently modified unilaterally,” he explained. If necessary, the party will take legal action against the required conditions.
AfD federal spokesman Tino Chrupalla told Bild: “Of course we will sue. And we will do it in full. All necessary steps have already been taken.” Because of the threat of termination, the AfD had already filed a criminal complaint last Friday against Essen's mayor Thomas Kufen and the managing director of Messe-GmbH, among others, Reusch continued. The rental agreement between Messe Essen and the party was already signed in January 2023.
