The anti-immigration party Alternative for Germany (AfD) has welcomed the mandate of the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) to form a government in Vienna.
The AfD’s candidate for chancellor, Alice Weidel, said on Monday that events in Austria should convince Germany’s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to give up their so-called “firewall” that prevents cooperation with the AfD.
“The last hour of the ‘firewall’ will soon come for us too,” Weidel said.
Austrian President Alexander van der Bellen officially tasked the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) with forming a government on Monday after a meeting with leader Herbert Kickl.
The decision came after Christian Stocker, the newly appointed leader of the conservative Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP), said on Sunday that his party is ready to enter into negotiations with Kickl, months after the FPÖ won parliamentary elections.
Stocker was appointed by his party after Chancellor Karl Nehammer announced his resignation on Saturday following the failure of previous coalition negotiations with centrist parties.
The CDU and its sister party in Bavaria, the Christian Social Union, have consistently ruled out cooperation with the AfD should the opportunity arise after next month’s early elections in Germany.
However, Weidel said the success of the FPÖ – which sees the AfD as a “sister party” – should serve as a warning to Friedrich Merz, the CDU/CSU candidate for chancellor.
De Weidel said voters do not want coalitions “in which left-wing parties set the tone” if the CDU/CSU and AfD have a majority of seats in parliament.