Alice Weidel, co-leader of Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, addresses delegates during a party congress on January 11, 2025 in Riesa, eastern Germany. (Photo by JENS SCHLUETER / AFP)
Riesa, Germany: Buoyed by the endorsement of Elon Musk and enjoying new highs in the polls ahead of elections in February, Germany's far-right AfD is hoping for a further boost from the success of the far right in neighbouring Austria.
Long shunned by the political establishment, Austria's Freedom Party (FPOe) is currently on the brink of power after being invited to try to form a government with the conservative People's Party (OeVP).
"We saw what was suddenly possible in Austria and let's see what happens here," AfD deputy parliamentary group leader Beatrix von Storch said on the sidelines of a party conference in the eastern town of Riesa on Sunday.
Herbert Kickl's FPOe had emerged as the largest party at elections in September with around 29 percent of the vote, while the AfD is trailing in second place in Germany behind the conservatives.
But the AfD, which this weekend officially named 45-year-old Alice Weidel as its candidate to be the German chancellor, is catching up -- with one recent survey showing it on 22 percent, just eight points behind the conservatives.
The anti-immigration AfD has little chance of being part of Germany's next government since other parties have committed to maintaining a so-called "firewall" to keep the far right out of government.
But the party founded in 2013, which initially sought to attract voters by positioning itself as anti-establishment, has started to turn its eyes towards power and is calling for the firewall to be dismantled.
