German Parties Use Austrian Scandal to Condemn Far-Right Ties
German Parties Use Austrian Scandal to Condemn Far-Right Ties
(Bloomberg) -- Germany’s mainstream political parties on Monday unanimously rejected alliances with far-right groups, pointing to the scandal that led to the collapse of Austria’s governing coalition with the populist Freedom Party for justification.
After a video surfaced showing Austria’s vice chancellor, Heinz-Christian Strache, offering government contracts in exchange for campaign funds, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz of the People’s Party broke off the alliance and called for new elections.
“Strache and the Freedom Party show what right-wing populists are made of across Europe, and that’s why it’s a signal -- a week before the election -- not to vote for right-wing populists,” Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the head of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats, said in a debate with other party leaders on ARD, a state broadcaster.
Politicians from such parties pursue their own self interests and “aren’t anyone that we want to or will cooperate with,” she added.
Europe’s mainstream parties are relishing the opportunity to hit back at populists after watching their support erode in recent years, especially after many voters became unsettled by the refugee crisis. The European Parliament elections on Sunday stand to be a decisive ballot over the future of the European Union.
Andrea Nahles -- head of the Social Democrats, Merkel’s junior coalition partner -- joined Green party chief Annalena Baerbock in urging penalties, such as cutting funds, on governments that breach the EU’s rules on democratic standards.
There was one exception to the chorus of anti-populist sentiment in Monday’s debate: Germany’s populist party AfD shrugged off any potential fallout from the scandal in Vienna.
“It’s an inner-Austria event that could influence the vote there,” said Joerg Meuthen, the AfD’s lead candidate for the European vote. “I don’t think it will have an impact outside Austria.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Reiter in Berlin at creiter2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net, John Harney, Robert Jameson
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