AA / Londres / Burak Bir
US President-elect Donald Trump and his close ally, billionaire Elon Musk, are the “biggest threat examples” of foreign interference, said a British expert, who warned that the liberal democratic order based on rules is at great risk of “disappearing”.
The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, who is to serve as an advisor to Trump, has faced heavy criticism for his interference in European politics through his X platform.
He has made controversial remarks regarding the political affairs of European countries, including Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom, and has also suffered harsh criticism from the German political establishment for his support of the party far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) ahead of a snap election in February.
Amelia Hadfield, head of the politics department at the University of Surrey, called it a “social media slip-up,” saying Musk attacks governments with focused attention, often on a specific individual.
“It’s a bit of a pointed attack when you look closely, but it’s also very widespread. It extends to various targets quite broadly,” she explained.
She stressed that these “provocations seem really deliberate”, being on the one hand “manipulative” and designed to “provoke”, and on the other hand, Musk is fully aware that he is not just getting involved, but that he is actually interfering.
“I think there will be an intensification between now and the presidential inauguration on January 20. I think it’s a strategy to increase anxiety among allies and perhaps sow even more doubt in the countries that are not sure they are allies,” she added.
– “Complicated times for the EU”
Hadfield said that on January 20, Musk will no longer only be a multi-billionaire and major tech entrepreneur, but also a member of Trump’s presidential cavalcade, further complicating how the West will handle its situation.
Asked about the possible state of U.S.-Europe relations with Trump’s inauguration as the 47th president later this month, Hadfield opined that ties could be strained.
“I think it’s not just because Musk has targeted several European countries – France and Germany being the best examples, but also, more broadly, the UK – but I also think that the Commission European Union feels that he not only interfered, but was deliberately inflammatory.”
She noted that Musk’s expressed support for the AfD on X and his recent discussion with party leader Alice Weidel have put pressure on the European Commission as well as European governments “because the Commission is responsible for apply the EU Digital Services Act, the digital rule, if you will, and the aim of this law is to regulate and control social media platforms.”
Highlighting that in cases of violations of these platforms, including interference, huge fines can be imposed, she added that the European Commission is in a position to consider whether it can tackle a platform as large as X, due to giving an unfair public advantage to a party like the AfD over its rivals before a vote.
However, she noted that political will as well as technical evidence are necessary to be able to pursue Musk, clarifying that these are complicated times for the European Union, especially since he is now part of the Trump administration.
– “The greatest example of the threat of foreign interference”
Referring to Trump’s “repeated threats” about a trade war with Europe, she stressed that it would be particularly damaging for Germany and its exports if tariffs as high as 20% were imposed.
“So there is real concern, and that can only be countered with a firm and real response.”
She said the question in this case is whether Musk is being “pushed by Trump” to undermine centrist parties across Europe as a whole.
Hadfield added that Germany provides a very good example of this, as a case study in the “effort to normalize” far-right parties like the AfD and downplay their radicalism.
She noted that there have been tensions with France, but that it has “not really transformed or dissolved.”
For her, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has so far played “very clever games”, just as she has done with many EU countries, trying to include certain aspects of Musk “but without encourage him to explicitly align himself with elements that would make him even more difficult to manage.”
“I agree that Musk and Trump represent the greatest example of the threat of foreign interference. At the same time, I think a lot of this is based on provocation, harassment. It’s clearly performative.”
She clarified that on a broader scale, this is aimed at the liberal democratic order.
“If the liberal democratic order does not take this seriously, we will see the end of the rules-based liberal democratic order. The stakes, frankly, could not be higher,” she added.
* Translated from English by Adama Bamba
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