What Hannover and Berlin reveal about Germany's NGO state
From a "ghost café" in Hannover to a controversial anti-Semitism fund in Berlin, two scandals reveal what can happen when politicians decide that a cause is too important for normal scrutiny.
Dear Reader,
Two stories from two different cities. Both illustrate the danger that public funds intended for worthy causes such as democracy promotion and anti-racism can end up being diverted into political patronage networks when oversight breaks down.
In Hannover, prosecutors are investigating allegations that more than €1 million in public grants were misused by a prominent local Social Democrat and members of her family.
Hülya Iri was a leading figure in SPD circles in the capital of Lower Saxony. She served as deputy leader of the SPD group on the city council and was well connected within the state’s famously influential party machine. When she founded an NGO in 2018 with the stated aim of helping young migrants enter the workforce, she received public backing from Doris Schröder-Köpf, the former wife of former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and, at the time, Lower Saxony’s migration commissioner.
A single mother from a Turkish immigrant family, Iri appeared to embody a successful in…