German democracy: Big companies tell their employees who to vote for

The CEOs of Mercedes and Siemens warn of extremism and populism in the German press before the European Parliament elections. In an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), company managers strongly urged their employees to go vote, but to think about which party they vote for, because it is better to vote against extremism in the EU elections in June, reports economx . en .

This practice is quite unusual in business life in Hungary, and according to the newspaper, companies in Europe's largest economy have traditionally refrained from taking an open political position. But now -

with the European Parliament elections on June 9 approaching - large German employers are trying to influence voters, warning them of the dangers of a shift to the right.

They promote diversity, openness and tolerance

From the German economic elite, not only the leaders of Siemens and Mercedes take their political stance, but together with them, around thirty companies and organizations with a long history have formed an alliance that "We stand for values!" started the election campaign with the title

Well-known companies such as Allianz SE, ThyssenKrupp, Henkel, Metro, Volkswagen, DHL Group, E.ON SE, Philip Morris or Deutsche Bank participate

joint campaign page , the employers employing a total of about 1.7 million employees are committed to a united Europe and promote diversity, openness, and tolerance, which is the source of innovation power and the guarantee of competitiveness in the globalized world.

We stand by all the values ​​that have led us to success in the past and operate the engine of our economic system - they say, emphasizing that together they want to send a strong signal against hatred and populism. That's why they called on their employees to vote in the European elections for diversity and tolerance, and against the populist AfD.

The CEO of Siemens, Roland Busch, put it this way: political parties promoting racism threaten social cohesion, namely that although they give simple answers to complex questions, they "never work".

Cover photo: Roland Busch, CEO of Siemens / Photo: MTI/EPA/Anna Szilágyi