Susanne Fürst (FPÖ):

“Absolutely no reason to distance ourselves from AfD”

(Bild: krone.tv)

Susanne Fürst, FPÖ constitutional spokesperson and deputy parliamentary group leader, would like to see a "comprehensive commitment to neutrality". Instead, Austria must be a "place for negotiations". She sees "no reason at all" for the FPÖ to distance itself from its German sister party, the AfD.

The AfD celebrated historic successes in the state elections in the eastern German states of Saxony and Thuringia on Sunday. Meanwhile, calls from politicians in Germany for the FPÖ to distance itself from the AfD have grown louder - because the AfD has been classified as right-wing extremist by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Saxony, for example. "I vehemently oppose this pigeonholing and the term right-wing extremism, because these are people who want to overturn the free constitution, the Basic Law, in favor of an authoritarian system."

The word right-wing extremism is rather politicized in order to denounce opponents, said Fürst: "Of course we distance ourselves from all extremism, but I strongly oppose the total expansion of this term."

Further topics of discussion, such as the national security strategy and the FPÖ election program, can be seen in the video above.