EU watchdog triggers process to ban far-right Europe of Sovereign Nations party
The Authority for European Political Parties and Foundations on Wednesday initiated a process that could strip the far-right Europe of Sovereign Nations party, home to Germany's Alternative for Germany, of its legal status and EU funding. Director Pascal Schonard sent a 300-page letter to the Council of the EU citing evidence that ESN members violate EU core values through anti-immigration, antisemitic and anti-LGBT rhetoric. The ESN party is slated to receive over €2 million in EU subsidies in 2026.
BRUSSELS — The Authority for European Political Parties and Foundations (APPF) on Wednesday triggered a process that could strip the far-right Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) party — the European party home to Germany's Alternative for Germany (AfD) — of its legal status and EU funding.
APPF Director Pascal Schonard sent a 300-page letter to the Council of the EU, seen by POLITICO, stating there is “evidence” that ESN members are violating EU core values. The evidence includes court rulings, screenshots and social media posts showing anti-immigration, antisemitic and anti-LGBT rhetoric, including calls for remigration and the depiction of homosexuality as pedophilia.
One social media post highlighted in the letter came from Tomasz Michał Grabarczyk, a national politician for Poland’s far-right Confederation/New Hope party, who wrote this month: “Israel is not just a criminal state. Israelis are a nation of criminals.” New Hope retweeted the post. Neither Confederation nor Grabarczyk responded to a request for comment.
The letter focuses on Bulgaria’s Revival, accusing it of cooperating openly with Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party and of being behind violent protests in Sofia and attacks against the European Commission delegation in February 2025. Placing the spotlight on the AfD, the letter highlights a May 2025 decision by German intelligence services to classify the party as a right-wing extremist organization “due to the extremist character of the entire party, which disregards human dignity.” The AfD did not respond to a request for comment.
The ESN party is a separate legal entity from the ESN political group in the European Parliament, which has 27 MEPs and does not face sanctions. The ESN party is slated to receive over €2 million in EU subsidies in 2026. The ESN party and group were founded by the AfD after the 2024 EU election and include Bulgaria’s Revival, France’s Reconquest, Poland’s Confederation, Czechia’s SPD, Hungary’s Our Homeland Movement, the Netherlands’ Forum for Democracy, and Slovakia’s Republic Movement.
ESN party President Stanislav Stoyanov told the APPF on May 4 that “ESN has no mandate to intervene directly in the affairs of its member parties. However, we remain committed to upholding the core values of the EU through constant dialogue with the related parties.” The ESN did not reply to requests for comment.
Any of the European Parliament, the European Commission or the Council of the EU can ask the APPF to start the formal process that could lead to a party being banned. If the APPF gets the go-ahead, it will send its observations to the ESN, which could take measures to assuage the authority’s concerns. A “committee of independent eminent persons” would then issue a recommendation before the authority takes any final decision to deregister the ESN as a European political party. Once the authority takes a final decision, the Parliament and the Council have three months to raise objections.