BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany’s association of family-owned companies has lifted its ban on contacts with AfD lawmakers, signalling the far-right party’s growing acceptability in parts of the business community as it climbs in the polls.

Just two years ago, prominent business leaders warned that the rise of right-wing extremism threatened Germany’s reputation as a destination for foreign investment and skilled labour.

Such warnings long resonated in a country acutely sensitive about its Nazi past, where mainstream parties maintain a “firewall” against the 12-year-old nationalist Alternative for Germany and refuse to cooperate with it.

But those public warnings have faded as the AfD has surged to first place in many nationwide polls after finishing second in February’s federal election.

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