The US State Department just launched a $5 million grant scheme to fund
organisations in Europe — pushing “Western civilizational heritage,”
anti-migration narratives, and attacks on the free press.

Right before Germany’s September 2026 elections.

This is not a conspiracy theory. It is an official US government programme,
published on state.gov, run by a bureau originally created to fight Soviet
authoritarianism. That same bureau is now targeting allied democracies.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz had to publicly warn Washington: stay out
of our elections.

In this episode of Over Here, Over There, we look at what is actually in
this grant scheme, who is behind it, why Germany is uniquely placed to
recognise the danger — and what it means when the country that spent decades
lecturing the world about election interference starts doing it to its friends.

Claudia Koestler is Senior Editor of the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Germany's largest quality newspaper, and is co-host of the 'Over Here, Over There' podcast.