Kristin Brinker: Praise for Vienna's security - what does that mean for Berlin?

Kristin Brinker: Praise for Vienna's security - what does that mean for Berlin?

Wien, Österreich - On July 18, 2025, the visit of Kristin Brinker, the party and group leader of the Berlin AfD, caused a sensation in Vienna. Brinker praised the cleanliness and security of public space in the Austrian capital when she used the subway together with her parliamentary group group-an experience that she has not had in Berlin since her studies. The reason for her journey was not only a look at the organization of Viennese city policy, but also the hope of closer cooperation with the FPÖ (Freedom Party) such as Berliner Zeitung reported.

Brinker and their faction pursue a clear goal with the trip: The AfD has difficulty struggling in Berlin, while the FPÖ in Austria has a completely different starting point and rules in five federal states. In the Bundestag election in February 2023, the AfD achieved 15.2 percent of the vote, a value that is primarily associated with dissatisfaction with the traffic light coalition and a growing distrust of Friedrich Merz. Current surveys show the AfD modest 13 percent in fifth place in Berlin.

common values and challenges

The recently signed cooperation paper between FPÖ and AfD emphasizes the meanings of freedom, order and personal responsibility. Brinker emphasizes the need to distinguish between integrated and non-integrated migrants, a topic that Dominik Nepp, the FPÖ boss, also took up. However, NPP is under legal pressure due to controversial statements about corona pandemic, while at the same time criticizing the social system in Vienna.

In the last elections to the National Council election in 2024, the FPÖ was able to record success among Serbian and Turkish-born voters, which further fueled the tension-charged migration debate in Austria. The AfD subsequently plans to adopt a position paper on the subject of neglect in Berlin and calls for personnel increasing the regulatory offices and more security in local transport.

migration numbers and trends in Europe

The topic of migration is of great importance in Europe. According to a report by the bpb, 23.8 million third-party members lived in the EU on January 1, 2021, which corresponds to about 5.3 % of the total population. The high proportions of foreign citizens in Luxembourg (47.1 %), Malta (20.1 %) and Austria (17.1 %) are particularly striking. In the event of immigration, the EU recorded a net immigration of around 961,595 people in 2020 after 1,917,842 people from third countries came to the EU.

Although the number of asylum applications decreased in 2015 and 2016, the number again rose by 46.5 % to 923,991 in 2022. Germany remains at the head of asylum applications, followed by France and Spain, while Cyprus recorded the highest asylum application rate per 100,000 inhabitants. These figures illustrate how important structured and safe migration management is for the EU member states.

Brinker's observations on the situation in Vienna not only throw a light on local politics, but also reflect the greater challenges for the EU when it comes to migration, integration and social security. These topics will certainly also become more important in the further political discourse.