Elon Musk, Chief Executive Officer of SpaceX and Tesla and owner of X looks on during the Milken Conference 2024 Global Conference Sessions at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., May 6, 2024. REUTERS/David Swanson/File Photo
BERLIN (Reuters) - U.S. billionaire Elon Musk's support for Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is a "logical and systematic" play for a weak Europe that will not be able to regulate as strongly, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck said in his New Year's address.
The calls by Musk are not made out of ignorance, said Habeck, who is the chancellor candidate for the Greens party in German national elections due in February.
"It is logical and systematic. Musk is strengthening those who are weakening Europe. A weak Europe is in the interest of those for whom regulation is an inappropriate limitation of their power," added Habeck.
The German government on Monday accused Musk, who owns social media platform X and is CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, of trying to influence the upcoming election with a guest opinion piece for the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.
Musk, the world's richest person, spent more than $250 million to help Trump get elected and has been tasked by Trump to prune the federal budget as a special adviser.
Musk endorsed the AfD as Germany's last hope in the piece that prompted the commentary editor to resign in protest, praising the anti-establishment, anti-immigrant party's approach to regulation, taxes and market deregulation.
(Reporting by Miranda Murray, editing by Thomas Seythal)
