Musk provokes European leaders ahead of chat with German far-right leader

Few European leaders have felt Elon Musk’s frustration on social media better than German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

The billionaire technology owner called him a “clueless idiot” and called for his resignation. On Thursday Musk will use his platform to host Alice Weidel, leader of Germany’s far-right, anti-immigrant AfD, for a lengthy discussion.

For many German politicians it is a political distraction, with the AfD coming in second in the run-up to the election on 23 February.

“You have to be patient,” says Scholz. “Don’t feed the troll.”

While some European leaders, notably Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, have taken a liking to Musk, others are finding it hard to ignore, as he meddles in their domestic politics before becoming an adviser to US President Donald Trump.

Within 24 hours, four European governments rejected Musk’s documents.

France’s Emmanuel Macron was one of the first to express disbelief on Monday.

“Ten years ago, who would have believed, if we had been told that the owner of the largest social network in the world would support a new, international group and directly intervene in the elections, including in Germany?” he said.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store also weighed in, saying that “it is a concern that a person with access to social media and a large fortune is becoming more involved in the internal affairs of other countries”.

The spokeswoman for the Spanish government, Pilar Alegría, said that digital platforms such as X must act “neutrally and above all without interference”.

Musk pointed to crime figures in Norway and Spain, and blamed Germany’s Christmas market for killing “too many people”.

In the past few days, Musk has written a series of articles attacking UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his administration for grooming criminals and child sex abuse.

“Those who are spreading falsehoods and falsehoods as far and wide as possible have no interest in their victims, they only care about themselves,” the UK Prime Minister said, without mentioning Musk.

The two notable exceptions in Europe are Italy and Hungary.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has developed close ties with Elon Musk and called him “brilliant” and “innovative”.

And Hungary’s Viktor Orban, who met Musk while visiting Trump at Mar-a-Lago last month, shares Musk’s hatred of Hungarian-born libertarian George Soros.

But it is the tech-billionaire’s involvement in German politics that is the most controversial, given the upcoming elections.

He has spoken out several times in favor of the AfD in recent weeks, and wrote a controversial article in Welt am Sonntag in which he called the AfD “the last hope” for Germany.

Musk justified the intervention at the time because of his company Tesla’s investment in Germany. He said portraying the AfD as right-wing, extremist “is clearly false”, because Alice Weidel had a gay friend in Sri Lanka.

Germany’s security forces say the AfD is extremist or suspected extremist and the courts have ruled it to be anti-democratic.

While Olaf Scholz wants to keep quiet, the Greens’ candidate for the chancellor, Robert Habeck, did not say clearly: “Citizen our democracy, Mr Musk.”

Liberal FDP leader Christian Lindner said Musk’s aim may be to weaken Germany’s interest in the US, “by encouraging a vote for a party that will harm us economically and divide us politically”.

The former head of the European Commission’s digital agenda, Thierry Breton, went to X last week to warn Alice Weidel, the AfD’s candidate for the chancellor’s seat, that Thursday’s chat with Musk would give her “a big and important advantage over her rivals”.

The European Commission has said that there is nothing in the EU’s Digital Services legislation that prohibits a live stream, or anyone expressing their views.

However, the spokesperson warned that platform owners should not provide “special support”. Musk’s X is already under investigation and the EU says the live stream will be questioned.

Although Musk has been talking about German politics, he has been expanding his business in Italy.

Giorgia Meloni had just taken a whirlwind trip to dinner with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago when reports emerged that Italy was in talks with Musk’s SpaceX to sign a $1.6bn (£1.3bn) contract, which will deliver Starlink satellites. Italy’s private internet and telecommunications services.

The agreement appears to have been unfinished and Rome quickly rejected the agreements that were signed.

Musk said on Monday that “he is ready to give Italy [with] the most secure and advanced communication” – without confirming the agreement that has been reached.

But the idea that Starlink could be tasked with protecting the Italian government’s communications was enough to cause consternation among opposition politicians in Rome.

“Giving such a difficult task to Musk while supporting the right in Europe, spreading fake news and meddling in the politics of European countries is not an option,” said center leader Carlo Calenda.