Funding hypocrisy alleged<\/p>\n
Felix B\u00f6llmann, the director of European advocacy of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International, called the report \u201ca thinly veiled attempt to silence ideological opponents under the guise of academic research\u201d in an interview with Catholic newspaper\u00a0Die Tagespost<\/a>.<\/p>\n Despite presenting itself as neutral, the forum operates as a \u201cwell-funded activist network,\u201d B\u00f6lmmann said, adding it received nearly 3 million euros (approximately $3.4 million) annually from donors including the Gates Foundation, George Soros\u2019 Open Society Foundations, Merck Sharp & Dohme, UNFPA, and the International Planned Parenthood Federation.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is remarkably hypocritical for such an organization to accuse others of \u2018dark money\u2019 when it itself relies on opaque and ideologically driven funding,\u201d\u00a0B\u00f6llmann told Die Tagespost<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u20185D strategy\u2019<\/p>\n The report labeled ADF International as extremist alongside Catholic organizations including Poland\u2019s Ordo Iuris and the Netherlands\u2019 Civitas Christiana.<\/p>\n Even Hungary Helps, a charity supporting persecuted Christians, was classified as an \u201cenemy of sexual rights.\u201d<\/p>\n B\u00f6llmann characterized this as a \u201c5D strategy\u201d: \u201cDisrobe, disarm, dislocate, demonetize, and defend \u2014 a plan to deprive Christian and conservative voices of legitimacy, financial support, and access to public debate.\u201d<\/p>\n The approach aims at \u201cenforcing a socio-political agenda through the instrumentalization of a misunderstood concept of human rights,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n B\u00f6llmann challenged the forum\u2019s undefined use of \u201creligious extremism.\u201d Unlike official EU anti-terrorism documents focusing on violence, the group applies the label to organizations that \u201cinvest financially in conservative movements and question constructed codes, such as a \u2018right to sexual and reproductive health.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSuch a self-definition is clearly based on ideological premises, not on objective, legal standards,\u201d\u00a0<\/a>he said.<\/p>\n Lobbying influence<\/p>\n The alliance actively shapes EU political processes despite its NGO (nongovernmental organization) status, influencing European Parliament reports, hearings, and resolutions. It organizes inter-party parliamentary networks and provides lawmakers with expert briefings, \u201ceffectively creating a lobbying infrastructure within the EU Parliament.\u201d<\/p>\n The forum group emerged in 2000 as a spinoff of the International Planned Parenthood Federation, which traces its origins to Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood and eugenics advocate,\u00a0<\/a>CNA Deutsch\u00a0reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n The group\u2019s 2023 budget totaled $2.38 million, with 45% from public donors, 31% from foundations, and 20% from pharmaceutical companies.<\/p>\n \u201cThe more they try to silence us, the clearer it becomes: Our work is having an impact \u2014 in our commitment to fundamental freedoms in Europe and beyond,\u201d B\u00f6llmann told Die Tagespost.<\/p>\n \t\t\t<\/p>\n