A German member of parliament says his account with Deutsche Bank-owned Postbank has been closed for political reasons, claiming his being a politician from the right has made him a target for debanking.
Alternative for Germany (AfD) member of the Bundestag and party co-chairman Tino Chrupalla claims to have been debanked, telling national television: “On Friday my account was cancelled by Postbank because I am an AfD member”. This is part of a process of excluding and discrediting people outside the political mainstream, he claimed.
Postbank is owned by Deutsche Bank, one of the largest global banks. The AfD is a right-wing populist political party that campaigns on issues like mass migration, the European Union, and failures of the legacy political establishment. Critics say the party is racist and should be banned as unconstitutional.
German broadsheet newspaper Die Welt reports the comments of a Postbank spokesman, who stood behind client confidentiality to avoid discussing the case, but stated nevertheless they had the right to cancel any account they wanted to without having to give a reason.
The remarks were made in a television programme about the legacy of Communist East Germany, the GDR, in modern eastern Germany. Chrupalla said he was proud to be an Easterner but was concerned about recent political developments in Germany.
News magazine Focus reports the politician said he and others in eastern Germany were experiencing “déjà vu when it comes to bullying and freedom of expression: no longer being able to say what you think” and that, in Chrupalla’s opinion Communist-like repressions on freedom of speech are “coming back in current politics”.
The magazine notes a Green party politician rejected these claims, calling Chrupalla “silly” for claiming Germany is becoming less free. Contradicting that view, Germany’s Junge Freiheit magazine reports left-wing networks are attempting to weaponize bank closures to attack opponents.
The neologism ‘debanking’ is achieving recognition in the English-speaking West this year largely after the efforts to publicise the issue by Brexiteer Nigel Farage who was subjected to having his accounts cancelled for his political views. Initially, it was claimed his claims were false and that his accounts were closed for simple business reasons, but internal documents acquired by the campaigner proved beyond doubt that he had indeed had his access to a bank account withdrawn for purely political reasons.
The repercussions from the episode were considerable, with senior officials from one of Britain’s biggest banks falling over the scandal, and the UK government introducing new rules and regulations which they say will prevent individuals being discriminated against by banks for their opinions and political views in future.