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Germany's populist party wants France excluded from Eurozone

AfD says France and south European countries pose problem to single currency as they have a different political culture from north Europeans.

La rédaction de Mediapart

This article is freely available.

Top officials of Germany's right-wing AfD party say they want France and southern European countries excluded from Europe's common currency, reports Deutsche Welle.

The party leaders say these countries are a political problem for the eurozone.

"We can have a common currency with the Netherlands, Austria, Finland or Baltic states. They have similar cultures of stability like ours," Joerg Meuthen, the co-leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, told the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in an interview to be published on Monday.

The AfD leader told the paper that the political culture of France and the southern European states was different from Germany's. "They don't want austerity at all," Meuthen underlined.

Formed three years ago, the anti-migrant AfD is now represented in half of Germany's 16 state assemblies as well as the European parliament. The AfD is hoping to cash in on the increasing anti-migrant and anti-Islam sentiments in Germany and enter the national parliament next year.

Read more of this report from Deutsche Welle.