Politics · Germany · 6 hrs ago
Radikale Töchter sue German government over democracy project funding halt
The NGO Radikale Töchter has sued the German government over the cancellation of funding for its democracy project.
The case is at the Administrative Court in Cologne, and the group is seeking about €290,000.
The project had received a preliminary funding approval in February 2025, and work had begun before the funding was stopped in early 2026.
The cancellation followed founder Cesy Leonard’s petition criticizing Chancellor Friedrich Merz over his remarks about the appearance of German cities.
The group says the funding halt was arbitrary and wants to carry out the project.
Internal emails cited in the coverage raised doubts about the decision’s legality, with one legal assessment saying a challenge had a very high chance of success.
The federal agency responsible for the funding declined to comment on the ongoing court case.
The NGO Radikale Töchter has sued the German government over the halt to funding for its democracy project.
It filed the case at the Administrative Court of Cologne and is seeking about €290,000.
The project had received provisional approval in February 2025 and had already begun work before funding was stopped in early 2026.
The funding halt followed founder Cesy Leonard’s criticism of Chancellor Friedrich Merz over his remarks about the country’s urban landscape.
Internal emails cited by the reports raised questions about the legal basis for rejecting the project’s appeal.
- Who
- The NGO Radikale Töchter is suing the German government.
- What
- It challenges the halt to funding for its democracy project and is seeking about €290,000.
- When
- The lawsuit was reported on October 13, 2026. The filing date is not stated.
- Where
- At the Administrative Court of Cologne, Germany.
- Why
- The NGO wants the project to go ahead after its funding was stopped. The reports say the halt followed founder Cesy Leonard’s criticism of Merz.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The Federal Agency for Civic Education gave the project provisional approval, and the NGO began work.
Cesy Leonard launched a petition criticizing Merz’s remarks; it gathered 250,000 signatures.
The agency rejected the project’s funding.
Agency legal experts wrote that there were no grounds to reject the appeal and that a lawsuit had a very high chance of success.
Agency vice-president Volker Ullrich described the decision in an email as ultimately political.
Reports said Radikale Töchter had sued the federal government at the Administrative Court of Cologne.
- Amount sought
- About €290,000
- Court
- Administrative Court of Cologne
- Provisional approval
- February 2025
- Petition signatures
- 250,000
- Workshops
- More than 400 since the NGO was founded in 2019
What people are saying
Independent political education work is needed more than ever now.
Cutting it arbitrarily is negligent and wrong. We are suing against this.
Ultimately a political decision.
There are neither substantive nor funding-law nor legal grounds for rejecting the appeal.
Sources
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