Germany’s far-right AfD welcomes mandate for Freedom Party of Austria

The anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has welcomed the mandate received by 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 abandon their so-called “firewall” preventing cooperation with the AfD.

“The last hour of the ‘firewall’ will soon come for us too,” said Weidel.

Austrian President Alexander van der Bellen officially tasked the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) with forming a government on Monday after meeting its leader Herbert Kickl.

The decision came after Christian Stocker, the newly designated leader of the conservative Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP), said on Sunday that his party is prepared to engage in 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 collapse of previous coalition negotiations with centrist parties.

The CDU and its sister party in Bavaria, the Christian Social Union, have consistently ruled out cooperating with the AfD should the opportunity arise following next month’s early elections in Germany.

However, Weidel said the success of the FPÖ – which the AfD sees as a “sister party” – should serve as a warning to Friedrich Merz, the CDU/CSU candidate for chancellor.

The 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.