Concerned about far-right party support, not insults: Scholz on Musk criticism
Kyiv • UNN
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz commented on the criticism and support of Ilon Musk for the AdG party. He urged to keep cool, but expressed concern over the billionaire's interference in the German elections.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he maintains "equanimity" over critical personal comments by Ilon Musk, but finds it troubling that the U.S. billionaire is making efforts to interfere in the general election by supporting the far-right Alternative for Germany (AdG) party, reports UNN citing AP.
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Scholz was reacting to Musk, a close ally of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, calling the chancellor a "fool" after his coalition government collapsed in November and then endorsing the AdG in an article he wrote for a major German newspaper.
Scholz, head of Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD), said in comments published Saturday by the German magazine Stern that "there is nothing new" in criticism from "wealthy media entrepreneurs who do not appreciate social democratic politics and do not restrain their opinions.
"You have to keep your cool," Scholz told Stern.
"What bothers me much more than such insults is that Musk supports a party like AfD, which is partly right-wing extremist, preaches rapprochement with Putin's Russia and wants to weaken the transatlantic relationship," Scholz said.
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AfD is monitored by the German domestic intelligence service for suspected right-wing extremist activities and has already been recognized as such in some individual German states.
Germany will hold early parliamentary elections on Feb. 23 after Scholz's three-party coalition collapsed in November over a dispute over how to revive the country's stagnant economy.
Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck also warned Musk against interfering in German politics.
"Hands off our democracy, Mr. Musk!" - Habeck said in an interview with Spiegel magazine.
"The combination of vast wealth, control over information and networks, the use of artificial intelligence and a willingness to ignore rules is a frontal assault on our democracy," said Habeck, the Green Party's candidate for chancellor.
Musk recently caused a storm of outrage by endorsing the AdG in an article for Welt am Sonntag, leading to the resignation of the paper's opinion editor Eva Marie Kogel in protest.
"The Alternative for Germany (AdG) is the last spark of hope for this country," Musk wrote in his translated commentary.
The Tesla Motors CEO also wrote that his investment in Germany gave him the right to comment on the state of the country.
The AdG has high ratings, but its candidate for the top post, Alice Weidel, has no realistic chance of becoming chancellor because other parties refuse to work with the far-right party.
