Musk to host German far-right leader on X, stirs angst about election meddling

• Musk is increasingly vocal in support of Europe's far right
• Publicly endorsed Germany's AfD ahead of Feb. 23 election
• EU grappling with how to respond to Musk political activity
• German parliament probes suspected election meddling

By Sarah Marsh and Matthias Williams

BERLIN, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Elon Musk will host the leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) on X on Thursday, stoking concerns in Berlin and Brussels about possible meddling by the U.S. billionaire in campaigning for Germany's Feb. 23 national election.

Musk last year used X and his vast wealth to help get Republican Donald Trump re-elected U.S. president. Now he is becoming vocal in his support for far-right and anti-establishment parties across Europe.

The world's richest man has shown particular interest in Germany, Europe's economic powerhouse, where he opened Tesla's first European plant in 2022.

Last month, Musk endorsed the AfD, an anti-immigration, anti-Islamic party labeled as right-wing-extremist by German security services, causing consternation in Berlin. Other German parties have ruled out working with the AfD.

Musk, known for his libertarian views, described German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier as a "tyrant" for criticising the AfD and called on Chancellor Olaf Scholz to resign after a deadly car attack on a German Christmas market. Both men belong to the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD).

Leaders across Europe have expressed alarm over Musk's political activities. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez accused Musk of undermining democracy, without directly naming him, while France's foreign minister urged the EU to use its laws more robustly to guard against outside interference.

That is unlikely to stop the live talk between Musk and the AfD's chancellor candidate Alice Weidel, an economist fluent in English and Mandarin, from going ahead at 7 p.m. (1800 GMT).

Last August Musk held a similar talk with Trump, who has since tasked the entrepreneur with leading a drive to make U.S. government more efficient.

AFD ON THE RISE

In Germany, the AfD's critics worry Musk's support for the party could further bolster its popularity, eroding support for mainstream parties and making it harder for them to form a coherent coalition.

The AfD is already polling in second place. A survey by pollster INSA published on Monday put the AfD on 21.5% behind the conservatives on 31% but well ahead of Scholz's SPD on 15.5%. INSA chief Hermann Binkert said Musk's comments had helped remove stigma from the AfD.

Musk has defended his right to weigh in on German politics because of his "significant investments", and has praised the AfD's approach to regulation, taxes and market deregulation.

Thursday's planned live talk has drawn scrutiny, however, from the European Commission, which will look at the discussion as part of its ongoing probe into X and possible violations of its Digital Services Act (DSA).

"Nothing in the DSA prevents such a livestream. What we want however, is that the owner of the platform or the provider of the platform, to make sure that the platform is not... giving preferential treatment to certain types of content," a spokesperson said.

LobbyControl, a pressure group that advocates for greater transparency in German and European politics, questioned whether the talk violated German campaign finance rules as it could be classed as political advertising.

Separately, the administration of Germany's lower chamber of parliament said it was examining whether Musk's live chat might constitute illegal interference in the election campaign.

Weidel's spokesperson pushed back against such suggestions, saying: "It is definitely not an illegal party donation but an open talk on X, which has not previously been coordinated and which is totally legitimate."

Musk's team did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Klaus Mueller, the head of Germany's Federal Network Agency, said it was up to citizens whether they chose to listen to Musk's talk with Weidel.

But he added that any evidence of algorithms being manipulated would be crossing a line or relevant to the DSA.

(Reporting by Sarah Marsh and Matthias Williams; Additional reporting by Andreas Rinke, Thomas Escritt, Philip Blenkinsop, Friederike Heine; editing by Matthias Williams and Gareth Jones)

((sarah.marsh@thomsonreuters.com; +49 30 220133621; Reuters Messaging: sarah.marsh.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))