94Ha Viewpoint
German Chancellor Scholz and his deputy Habeck harshly criticized Musk, the world’s richest man, in their New Year’s speech, accusing him of supporting Germany’s far-right party before Germany’s early elections and hoping that Europe would “weaken.”
According to Reuters and Bloomberg, Scholz will deliver a New Year’s speech at 8:10 p.m. on Tuesday, December 31 (3:10 a.m. on January 1, 2025, Singapore time). Reuters obtained Scholz’s speech in advance.
Germany will hold parliamentary elections on February 23, and immigration issues and the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) are topics of great concern.
Scholz will call on people to vote in February on New Year’s Eve. “I am calling on everyone to vote today! If you look around the world, you should know that free and fair elections are a great achievement.”
Scholz will also refute Musk’s remarks in his speech.
Following his earlier post saying that “only the AfD can save Germany”, Musk published another commentary in the German newspaper Die Welt on December 28, saying that Germany is on the verge of cultural and economic collapse and the AfD is Germany’s last hope.
After a fatal car crashed into a crowd at a German Christmas market, Musk also posted on social media platform X that the attack was “a direct result of uncontrolled mass immigration” and that Scholz was an “incompetent idiot” who should resign immediately.
Scholz will emphasize in his New Year’s Eve speech that Germany’s future will not be determined by the owners of social media platforms, nor by the person who shouts the loudest, but by the vast majority of rational and decent people.
German Vice Chancellor Habeck said that Musk’s support for Germany’s far-right AfD is a “logical and systematic” layout aimed at weakening Europe and making it impossible for Europe to implement strong supervision. (AFP)
On the same day, German Vice Chancellor and Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Protection Habeck said in his New Year’s speech that Musk’s support for the AfD is a “logical and systematic” layout aimed at weakening Europe and making it impossible for Europe to implement strong regulation.
Habeck said that Musk’s support for the AfD is not out of ignorance, “it is logical and systematic. Musk is strengthening the camp of weakening Europe. For those who believe that regulation inappropriately restricts their power, a weakened Europe is in their interests.”
Habeck will run for prime minister on behalf of the Green Party in the February election.
