2023-09-19 12:44:29
FPÖ party chairman Herbert Kickl and AfD parliamentary group leader Alice Weidel described themselves as “real protectors of the constitution” in Vienna on Tuesday. The two criticized the fact that the right-wing populist alternative for Germany was observed by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution as anti-democratic. The AfD wants to “seek solidarity with the FPÖ”. Weidel announced that they want to meet with the heads of other European parties in November.
Weidel accused the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution of “spying on opposition parties” and of wanting to exclude parties that have millions of voters from party competition. Kickl added that the primary goal of the political system and its elites was to prevent the AfD and Alice Weidel in Germany, the FPÖ and Herbert Kickl in Austria and a strengthening of patriotic forces throughout Europe. The measures involved are exclusion, defamation, manipulation, censorship and ultimately criminalization.
In the joint press conference, the two sharply criticized the current governments in Austria and Germany on many other issues. They spoke of “eco-communism” (Kickl) and “eco-socialism” (Weidel) in view of the climate policy in Austria and Germany as well as the current German heating law. “This energy transition costs 2.5 trillion euros and saves just as much CO2 in six years as China emits in 24 hours,” noted Weidel. She complained that Germany had shut down its nuclear power plants and was now polluting the air even more.
She also sharply criticized the decisions on gender identity and the legalization of cannabis. Weidel complained that nothing had happened in asylum policy for eight years and saw a “conscious waiver of control” by the German traffic light coalition on the migration issue. The traffic light continues the policies of former Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU), in her eyes the “first green chancellor” in Germany. Weidel spoke of “Merkel’s we-can-do-it-welcome-putsch.”
When asked regarding Italian Transport Minister Matteo Salvini’s criticism of possible Austrian border controls, Kickl explained that he knew Salvini as someone who had a “great understanding of the security interests” of other countries. He suspected that Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) had not contacted Italy on this issue. Salvini’s Lega, like the AfD and the FPÖ, is part of the EU ID (Identity and Democracy) group in the European Parliament.
Kickl explained that the popularity of the AfD in Germany and the FPÖ in Austria is not just because the governments are so bad, but because the patriotic opposition has better answers to the important questions. Both parties might point to “excellent” election results in regional elections and “very, very strong poll results at the federal level,” said Kickl, who described the AfD as “the only alternative.” In surveys, the AfD is at over 20 percent and well ahead of the Chancellor’s SPD. “Accordingly, we will also demand appropriate leadership,” said Weidel. Weidel did not say on Tuesday whether she would be available as a candidate for chancellor in the federal election. This will be decided next year.
Weidel will give a lecture on Tuesday evening “The German ‘traffic light’ as a deterrent example for Austria” in the Hotel Intercontinental. In addition, there will be “another schnitzel” for Weidel in Vienna, explained Kickl when asked. And he said he was “glad that we can still eat it” without slipping into illegality. Weidel recently declared in a speech that he didn’t want to let the schnitzel be taken away from him.
The ÖVP immediately criticized the joint press appearance. “Both Kickl and Weidel deny the necessity of all life-saving Corona measures, openly seek proximity to the Russian regime and share their outright hostility towards the Office for the Protection of the Constitution,” responded ÖVP General Secretary Christian Stocker in a broadcast. Kickl’s plan is apparently to ensure that right-wing extremists are protected and no longer observed by the DSN. “Kickl is once once more proving to be a security risk for our country.” In addition, Stocker demanded that Kickl distance himself from his party colleague’s “hymns of praise for nuclear power”.
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