VIENNA (AP) - Austria’s far-right Freedom Party has added prominent climate activist Greta Thunberg to its list of targets during campaigning ahead of Sunday’s parliamentary election.
Party leader Norbert Hofer took a swipe at the Swedish teenager Friday during a debate aired by Austria’s public broadcaster ORF, warning against “climate hysteria.”
Thunberg’s campaign to push leaders to act against climate change has inspired mass demonstrations in cities worldwide , including in Austria, where some 65,000 people protested Friday.
Hofer, whose party was in government until a leaked video triggered allegations of corruption, also took aim at Islam and migrants, warning Austria risked a repeat of the 2015 influx.
The Freedom Party is trailing in polls behind the center-right People’s Party and is roughly level with the center-left Social Democrats.
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