ESN now has its own foundation

In Brussels, seat of the European Parliament, the AfD parliamentary group, known as Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN), announced at the end of September that it had registered its own European foundation: the Sovereignty Foundation. This was announced by the chairman of the ESN, Alexander Sell (AfD). This gives the group access to further funds (see our overview “Using EU money against the EU” in our newsletter #6).

In addition to President Sell, Vice-Presidents Zsuzsanna Borvendèg (Hungary), Sarah Knafo (France), Deyan Nikolov (Bulgaria), Ivan David (Czechia) and Milan Mazurek (Slovakia) represent the foundation. Marcin Sypniewski (Poland) is treasurer. All information about the foundation has been published by the European authority APPF.

On 1 October, a few days before the parliamentary elections there, members of the ESN group met for a conference in Prague (Czechia), including politicians from Svoboda a přímá demokracie (SPD). AfD MEPs René Aust, Marc Jongen, Siegbert Droese and Christine Anderson were present.

On behalf of the ESN, Jongen nominated the murdered MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk for the EU's prestigious Sakharov Prize: "Though tragically murdered, he [C.K.] will continue to inspire millions of young people around the world as a role model for courage, faith, and the defence of free expression. His martyrdom marks a turning point in the defence of Western values, standing firm against ideological intolerance and censorship."

AfD MEP Tomasz Froelich visited Tajikistan from 15 to 17 September as a member of the EU delegation for Central Asia and took part in an interparliamentary exchange there. This was reported by the ESN group via social media.

Redaction: Ulli Jentsch