Europe leaders criticise Musk attacks

Few European leaders have felt the lash of Elon Musk's social media outbursts more than Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

The tech-billionaire owner of X has called him an "incompetent fool" and urged him to resign. On Thursday Musk will use his platform to host Alice Weidel, the head of Germany's far-right, anti-immigrant AfD for a lengthy chat.

For many German politicians it smacks of political interference, with the AfD running second in the polls ahead of federal elections on 23 February.

"You have to stay cool," says Scholz. "Don't feed the troll."

Although some of Europe's leaders, notably Italy's Giorgia Meloni, have found favour with Musk, others are finding it hard to ignore him, as he ventures into their domestic politics ahead of a new role of adviser to the incoming US President Donald Trump.

In the space of 24 hours, four European governments have objected to Musk's posts.

France's Emmanuel Macron was among the first to expressed incredulity on Monday.

"Ten years ago, who would have believed it, if we had been told that the owner of one of the biggest social networks in the world would support a new, international reactionary movement and intervene directly in elections, including in Germany?" he said.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store weighed in, too, saying he found it "worrying that a man with considerable access to social networks and significant economic resources is so directly involved in the internal affairs of other countries".

Spain's government spokeswoman, Pilar Alegría, said digital platforms such as X should act with "absolute neutrality and above all without any kind of interference".

Musk has highlighted crime statistics in Norway and Spain, and blamed a deadly Christmas market attack in Germany on "mass unchecked immigration".

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

Cover photo: Elon Musk has invested heavily in his European Tesla plant near Berlin