Founded in 1955 as the CDU’s political foundation, KAS now runs more than 110 field offices worldwide. In 2024 it received €213.4 million in public grants – €203.8 m from the federal budget, €3.2 m from Länder and municipalities, and €6.4 m in other revenue; 99 percent of income is taxpayer-financed. KAS has also received funding from Demokratie leben! for the project SmartCamps for Combating Extremism and Strengthening Democracy (€348,000, 2017-19). Program money supports democracy promotion, party training and information-integrity projects. Examples include recurrent support to West Africa’s Dubawa fact-check network, India’s First Check (DataLEADS) and Prague-based European Values Center, including for work related to Russian and Chinese influence operations (annual Czech-koruna grants since 2017). In 2024 KAS published a study on AI-generated disinformation in Europe and Africa.
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Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS)
First Check , Dubawa, European Values Center for Security Policy...See all
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Commentary:
Although legally private, KAS dispenses over €200 million in public funds with party-aligned oversight: its executive board is chaired by CDU treasurer Michael Stübgen and supervised by Bundestag committees dominated by coalition MPs. Detailed project budgets stay hidden. Annual reports bundle overseas spending by region, thwarting scrutiny of how grants shape media ecosystems from Accra to New Delhi. Long-term funding of European Values illustrates agenda reinforcement: roughly CZK 850,000 per year bankrolls anti-Kremlin research that mirrors CDU foreign policy. KAS's claim to foster democratic pluralism may be said to sit uneasily with its role as a taxpayer-funded extension of party-political strategy, including on matters regarding information warfare.
Although legally private, KAS dispenses over €200 million in public funds with party-aligned oversight: its executive board is chaired by CDU treasurer Michael Stübgen and supervised by Bundestag committees dominated by coalition MPs. Detailed project budgets stay hidden. Annual reports bundle overseas spending by region, thwarting scrutiny of how grants shape media ecosystems from Accra to New Delhi. Long-term funding of European Values illustrates agenda reinforcement: roughly CZK 850,000 per year bankrolls anti-Kremlin research that mirrors CDU foreign policy. KAS's claim to foster democratic pluralism may be said to sit uneasily with its role as a taxpayer-funded extension of party-political strategy, including on matters regarding information warfare.
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