Church institutions are not subject to the fundamental rights obligation and therefore also not subject to the neutrality requirement when they organise discussion groups in connection with an upcoming state election. An AfD candidate, for example, is therefore not entitled to take part in such an event. This has now been clarified by the Higher Administrative Court of Rhineland-Palatinate following the previous decision of the Administrative Court of Mainz (OVG Rhineland-Palatinate, decision of 5 February 2026, ref.: 10 B 10203/26.OVG; press release no. 3/2026).

The background to this is a planned panel discussion entitled „Youth meets politics“ organised by the local Protestant youth and the Protestant youth centre in cooperation with the youth representatives of the association of municipalities in Oppenheim. As this event is largely organised by the church and church institutions are not subject to the party-political neutrality requirement (Article 21 of the Basic Law), the AfD candidate cannot invoke the principle of equal opportunities in the competition for votes. He therefore has no right to participate in the event.