German blue-chips warn of ‘extremist’ threat before EU elections
Al Jazeera
Business alliance seeks to counter far-right populism and persuade 1.7 million staff to vote in upcoming election.
A roster of German blue chip companies has banded together to counter anti-immigration political parties in advance of the upcoming EU elections.
Thirty companies, including BMW, BASF, and Siemens, announced on Tuesday that they have formed a “business alliance” to battle populism and promote “diversity, openness and tolerance”. The initiative also calls on the 1.7 million employees of the firms to vote in June’s EU parliament elections, in which far-right parties are forecast to make significant gains.
“Exclusion, extremism, and populism pose threats to Germany as a business location and to our prosperity,” a statement issued by the “We stand for values” alliance read.
The companies said that they are “calling on their combined 1.7 million employees to take part in the upcoming European elections … to highlight the importance of European unity for prosperity, growth, and jobs,” it added.
The alliance suggested that with German companies already struggling with inadequate numbers of skilled workers, and the population ageing rapidly, populists could exasperate the situation by making the country unattractive to foreign labour.
