Jonathan Frederic De Santos

Reichstag in Berlin, Germany, seen from West. Avda, CC BY-SA 4.0

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17356638626791024px-Berlin_-_Reichstag_-_2020.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dii" alt="Reichstag in Berlin, Germany, seen from West. Avda CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons" style="width:960px"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left"><em>Reichstag in Berlin, Germany, seen from West. Avda CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons</em></span></span></span></div><p>BERLIN, Germany — Germany is set to start 2025 with an increasingly heated election campaign attracting attempts at influence not only on the part of Russia but also from Berlin&#x27;s traditional ally, the United States.</p><p>An early general election has been called for February 23 after Chancellor Olaf Scholz&#x27;s unruly three-party coalition government collapsed last month, unable to agree on solutions for the country&#x27;s ailing industries.</p><p>While fears over foreign interference in politics are nothing new in Europe&#x27;s biggest economy, this election looks set to see an unprecedented pincer movement from East and West.</p><p>Intelligence chiefs have for months been raising the alarm about Moscow&#x27;s attempts to meddle in German politics, principally in order to weaken Berlin&#x27;s support for Ukraine in its fightback against Russia&#x27;s invasion.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/8/8/-threat-to-democracy-comelec-flags-foreign-entity-allegedly-meddling-in-ph-elections-1524">&#x27;Threat to democracy&#x27;: Comelec flags &#x27;foreign entity&#x27; allegedly meddling in PH elections</a></div><p>But while Russian influence is mostly covert and exerted through &quot;hybrid&quot; means, the interventions from the United States are out in the open and concern themes such as the economy and migration.</p><p>However, both sets of influences bolster one party in particular: the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which scored 20 percent in one poll published Tuesday, double its share in the last election in 2021.</p><div><strong>Musk &#x27;meddling&#x27;<br/></strong></div><p>German politicians have looked on aghast in recent days as Elon Musk, the world&#x27;s richest man and influential advisor to president-elect Donald Trump, used his X platform to back the AfD.</p><p>A spokesman for AfD leader Alice Weidel told the Spiegel newspaper that her team and Musk&#x27;s were in &quot;regular contact&quot; although the two hadn&#x27;t yet spoken directly.</p><p>In his New Year&#x27;s address on Tuesday Scholz hit back, saying it was voters and &quot;not the owners of social media&quot; who would decide the result of the election.</p><p>Just hours earlier Musk had fired off a new volley of posts in the direction of Germany&#x27;s leadership, branding President Frank-Walter Steinmeier &quot;an anti-democratic tyrant&quot; and predicting an &quot;epic victory&quot; for the AfD.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2024/11/27/analyst-says-musk-uses-politics-on-x-to-further-his-own-interests-0145">Analyst says Musk uses politics on X &#x27;to further his own interests&#x27;</a></div><p>The co-leader of Scholz&#x27;s Social Democrats (SPD) Lars Klingbeil accused Musk of &quot;trying the same thing as Vladimir Putin&quot;, the Russian president.<br/>Klingbeil told the Funke media group that both Musk and Putin &quot;want Germany to be weakened and pushed into chaos&quot;.</p><p>Even the conservative CDU/CSU party, leading in opinion polls on 32 percent, has angrily rejected Musk&#x27;s moves as &quot;interfering and presumptuous&quot;.</p><p>Friedrich Merz, leader of the CDU/CSU and the likely next chancellor, said he could not remember &quot;a comparable case of meddling in the election campaign of an allied country in the history of Western democracy&quot;.</p><p>As well as his series of posts on X, Musk also wrote a pro-AfD opinion piece last week in the conservative Welt daily, prompting the title&#x27;s opinion editor to resign.</p><p>Political scientist Hajo Funke told AFP called the piece a &quot;scandal&quot; and said it marked a break with the previous opposition to the far-right on the part of the Springer group, which publishes Welt.</p><div><strong>New Year hangover<br/></strong></div><p>Being subject to such tactics from the United States is a shock for many Germans still attached to the post-war transatlantic alliance, says Hajo Funke.</p><p>&quot;We still have the image that America is the model for our democracy,&quot; he said.</p><p>According to Michael Broening of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung think tank, Musk&#x27;s actions indicate &quot;Team Trump is now returning the favor for Germany’s outspoken anti-Trump rhetoric during the US election season&quot;.</p><p>&quot;Germany is headed for a New Year&#x27;s hangover but without the preceding party,&quot; he told AFP.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/overseas/03/07/23/canada-launches-probe-into-alleged-chinese-election-interference">Canada launches probe into Chinese election interference allegations</a></div><p>Meanwhile Germany&#x27;s domestic intelligence service wrote in a recent report that Russia has been active in spreading online disinformation and conducting cyberattacks with the aim of &quot;weakening confidence in democracy&quot; and undermining support for NATO and the EU — the latter of which the AfD wants to leave.</p><p>But how far the AfD will benefit from these external interventions remains to be seen.</p><p>Hajo Funke thinks the impact of Musk will be &quot;limited&quot; thanks to the widespread pro-Russian attitude among AfD voters making them sceptical of messages emanating from the United States.</p><p>However, political communication expert Johannes Hillje told Spiegel that Musk&#x27;s image as a successful entrepreneur could help the AfD reach traditional conservative voters who have been sceptical of the party&#x27;s economic policies.</p><p>&quot;The AfD couldn&#x27;t have wished for a better helper for the campaign,&quot; he said.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse </strong></div>

<p>Germany is set to start 2025 with an increasingly heated election campaign attracting attempts at influence not only on the part of Russia but also from Berlin's traditional ally, the United States.</p>

Germany is set to start 2025 with an increasingly heated election campaign attracting attempts at influence not only on the part of Russia but also from Berlin's traditional ally, the United States.

Pressure mounts from Russia and US ahead of German election

News

Entertainment

Lifestyle

Sports

Metro.Style

More

Traffic

Manila

Horoscope

World

Pressure mounts from Russia and US ahead of German election

Agence France-Presse

Published Jan 01, 2025 02:00 AM PHT

Read More:

Germany

United States

Russia

Elections

Election interference

Influence operations

ABS-CBN is the leading media and entertainment company in the Philippines, offering quality content across TV, radio, digital, and film. Committed to public service and promoting Filipino values, ABS-CBN continues to inspire and connect audiences worldwide.

Corporate

Investors

Governance

International Distribution

Corporate

Governance

Investors

International Distribution

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

AI Policy

Terms of Service

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.