German parties see 'warning' from Austria as AfD hails far-right advance

German politicians said Monday the prospect of Austria's far-right coming to power was a "warning" for Berlin's own fractured politics while the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) cheered events in Vienna.

The weekend saw the collapse of coalition talks in Austria which had aimed at forming a government without the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe), despite it topping the poll in a general election in September.

The FPOe is now closer to leading an Austrian government for the first time, having been invited to form a coalition by President Alexander Van der Bellen.

As Germany heads for its early elections on February 23, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck of the Greens told Deutschlandfunk radio that events in neighboring Austria "show what happens when (other parties) aren't able to form alliances"The parliamentary leader of the conservative CSU, Alexander Dobrindt, told the RTL broadcaster that what had happened in Austria was "a warning sign that the centrist parties had not been able to bring about political change".

"We must do everything we can to avoid such a situation arising" in Germany, he said.

Germany's upcoming early election was sparked by the collapse of center-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz's unwieldy three-party coalition in November after months of internal bickering over economic policy.

Current polls show the center-right CDU/CSU with a commanding lead of 32 percent, followed by the AfD at 19 percent.

While that would represent the AfD's best-ever result, the anti-immigration party is unlikely to enter government as the other parties have committed to maintaining a "firewall" to keep it out of power.

AfD co-leader Alice Weidel celebrated what she called the "crashing fall of the firewall" erected by Austria's centrist parties against the FPOe.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer of the center-right People's Party (OeVP), who had ruled out working with FPOe leader Herbert Kickl, resigned over the weekend to make way for new leadership more amenable to talks with the far right.

Weidel said this should serve as a warning to Germany's CDU/CSU leader Friedrich Merz, seen as the likely next chancellor, not to follow a "policy of exclusion that puts party interests above the will of the voters".

Appealing to Merz to consider governing with the AfD, she said that "anyone who tries to ignore the clear will of the voters is damaging democracy and will fail sooner or later".

While Merz has tacked to the right on migration and security to court voters tempted by the AfD, he has ruled out governing with the party, parts of which are considered right-wing extremist by Germany's domestic security service.