Musk provokes European leaders before a conversation with the leader of the German far-right

Few European leaders have experienced Elon Musk’s social media outbursts more than German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

The billionaire tech owner of X called him an “incompetent fool” and called for his resignation. On Thursday, Musk will use his platform to host Alisa Weidel, head of Germany’s far-right anti-immigrant AfD, for an extended conversation.

To many German politicians, this smacks of political meddling, with the AfD in second place in the polls ahead of the February 23 federal election.

“You have to stay calm,” Scholz says. “Don’t feed the troll.”

While some European leaders, notably Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, have found favor with Musk, others are finding it hard to ignore him as he ventures into their domestic politics ahead of his new role as an adviser to incoming US President Donald Trump.

In 24 hours, four European governments opposed Musk’s messages.

On Monday, Frenchman Emmanuel Macron was one of the first to express distrust.

“Ten years ago, who would have believed if we were told that the owner of one of the largest social networks in the world would support a new, international reactionary movement and directly interfere in elections, including in Germany?” he said.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gare Store also weighed in, saying he found it “disturbing that a person with significant access to social media and significant economic resources is so directly involved in the internal affairs of other countries.”

Spanish government spokeswoman Pilar Alegría said digital platforms like X must operate with “absolute neutrality and, above all, without any interference.”

Musk highlighted crime statistics in Norway and Spain and blamed “mass uncontrolled immigration” for the deadly attack at a Christmas market in Germany.

Over the past few days, Musk has written numerous posts attacking British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his administration over child grooming and sexual exploitation.

“Those who spread lies and disinformation as far and wide as possible are not interested in the victims, they are interested in themselves,” the British prime minister said, without mentioning Musk personally.

Two notable exceptions in Europe are Italy and Hungary.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni maintains a close relationship with Elon Musk and calls him a “genius” and “extraordinary innovator.”

And Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, who met with Musk during Trump’s Mar-a-Lago visit last month, shares Musk’s distaste for Hungarian-born liberal philanthropist George Soros.

But it is the tech billionaire’s meddling in German politics that is causing the most controversy in the run-up to the election.

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

Musk justified his intervention at the time with the financial investment of his company Tesla in Germany. He said the portrayal of the AfD as right-wing, extremist was “patently false” because Alice Weidel had a same-sex partner from Sri Lanka.

Germany’s intelligence services have labeled the AfD either right-wing extremist or suspected extremist, and courts have ruled that it pursues anti-democratic goals.

While Olaf Scholz tried to remain calm, Greens chancellor candidate Robert Habeck was more blunt: “Hands off our democracy, Mr Musk.”

The leader of the liberal SDP, Christian Lindner, suggested that Musk’s aim may be to weaken Germany in favor of the US, “recommending to vote for a party that will harm us economically and isolate us politically”.

Thierry Breton, the former head of the European Commission’s digital agenda, took to X over the weekend to warn AfD chancellor candidate Alisa Weidel that a live chat with Musk on Thursday would give her a “significant and valuable advantage over your competitors”.

The European Commission said there is nothing in EU digital services rules that prohibits live streaming or expressing personal views.

However, the spokesperson warned that platform owners should not provide “preferential treatment”. X Mask is already under investigation and the EU says the live stream will be subject to that investigation.

While Musk is outspoken in German politics, he is also expanding his business interests in Italy.

Giorgia Meloni had just been on a whirlwind trip to dine 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 ), under which Starlink satellites will provide encrypted Internet and telecommunications services for the Italian government.

It appears that a deal is not done yet, and Rome quickly denied that any contracts had been signed.

Musk said on Monday that he was “ready to provide Italy (with) the most secure and advanced connection” – without confirming that a deal had been reached.

But the suggestion that Starlink could be tasked with guarding the Italian government’s communications was enough to raise alarm among some opposition politicians in Rome.

“Giving such a delicate favor to Musk while he sponsors the European far-right, spreads fake news and meddles in the internal politics of European countries cannot be an option,” centrist leader Carlo Calenda said.