German family-business association lifts ban on contacts with far-right AfD

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BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany’s association of family-owned companies has lifted its ban on contacts with AfD lawmakers, signalling the far-right party’s growing acceptability in parts of the business community as it climbs in the polls.

Just two years ago, prominent business leaders warned that the rise of right-wing extremism threatened Germany’s reputation as a destination for foreign investment and skilled labour.

Such warnings long resonated in a country acutely sensitive about its Nazi past, where mainstream parties maintain a “firewall” against the 12-year-old nationalist Alternative for Germany and refuse to cooperate with it.

But those public warnings have faded as the AfD has surged to first place in many nationwide polls after finishing second in February’s federal election.

“Indignation alone has exhausted itself as a political strategy,” said Marie-Christine Ostermann, president of the association of family-run companies. “Now, only confronting the AfD’s content helps, beyond simple categorisations into ‘good’ and ‘evil’.”

Ostermann stressed that the association still rejects the AfD’s world view and opposes the party entering government, but said dialogue was necessary given its support among roughly a quarter of voters.

Her group is one of the first major German business organisations to openly call for more engagement with the AfD.

Others remain opposed. The BDI industry association told Reuters on Monday that it does not proactively seek dialogue with representatives of radical parties such as the AfD.

“The success of German industry is based on stable social and political conditions, which the AfD is attempting to shake with its populist positions,” it said.

(Reporting by Sarah Marsh and Christian Kraemer; editing by Mark Heinrich)