صاحب‌خبر - Elon Musk called the co-leader of Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) to congratulate her on the party’s performance in Sunday’s election after it doubled its support from the last election. Alice Weidel hinted she had slept through an overnight attempt to reach her by the Trump adviser and Tesla CEO, who had repeatedly intervened in the German campaign on her behalf. “When I turned on my telephone this morning or rather looked at it, I had missed calls from the US including from Elon Musk who personally congratulated [me],” she told reporters. Far-right leaders and other anti-immigration firebrands rejoiced in the gains made by the pro-Kremlin party, whose second place finish behind the CDU/CSU conservative opposition was fuelled by rising anger about immigration, violent crime and high energy costs. Weidel, the AfD’s candidate for chancellor, said she would spend part of the day getting back to well-wishers but refused to say which ones. “I won’t tell you that – it’s covered by a certain confidentiality.” But she added she was in contact with many international allies “and that includes in the Trump administration”. ‘Now is the time of monsters’: young Berliners despair at far-right surge Read more The party was endorsed byMusk and the US vice-president, JD Vance, during the election campaign. Musk, who had described the AfD in January as the “best hope for the future” in Germany, shared a post showing the party’s gains since 2021, with the caption “Holy shit!”. Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s nationalist prime minister, opted not to congratulate the election’s winner, the conservative Friedrich Merz, but to instead hail the AfD’s strong showing, after hosting Weidel for talks in Budapest in the final phase of the campaign. “The people of Germany voted for change in immense numbers,” he posted on X. “I want to congratulate Alice Weidel on doubling AfD’s share of the votes. Good luck and God bless Germany!” Musk later reposted Orbán’s message, adding: “At this rate of growth, @AfD will be the majority party by the next election.” Weidel replied: “Many thanks, @elonmusk! We doubled our results in 3 years & took a major milestone yesterday! Our goal is to become the strongest party in Germany!” she said, adding three German flag emojis. Matteo Salvini, the far-right deputy prime minister if Italy, also congratulated Weidel, saying: “Change is winning in Germany too! AfD doubles its votes, despite attacks and lies from the left,” adding that, “Europe must be radically changed”. The Netherlands’ Geert Wilders, leader of the far-right Party for Freedom, which is part of a coalition government, wrote, “Congratulations @Alice_Weidel and @AfD!!!” with three thumbs up emojis. Herbert Kickl, the leader of Austria’s far-right Freedom party, said, “As of today, there is a gaping hole in the firewall of the parties of the system, which is really a wall of fear against the will of the people and of democratic change.” He was referring to the unwritten pledge by mainstream German parties to maintain a “firewall” barring formal cooperation with the AfD. skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to This is Europe Free weekly newsletter The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment Enter your email address Sign upPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion Who is Friedrich Merz and what’s in his in-tray? Read more The Argentinian president and far-right figure, Javier Milei, shared a post containing a video of a speech to US conservatives by the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, from Saturday. Blaming “ruling classes” and “mainstream media,” Meloni insisted Europe was not “lost”. She said the US and Europe would remain close under Donald Trump, despite soaring tensions between the allies including over the fate of Ukraine. Milei shared the video with the caption, “Brilliante Meloni.” Meloni, leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, was the only EU leader to attend Trump’s inauguration in January and her allies have presented her as a potential bridge between the European Union and the US president. France’s Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally (RN), offered no comment on the results on X. In May last year, a group of the EU’s far-right parties, which includes the RN, expelled the AfD after a series of controversies, though some of the group’s members – Salvini and Wilders included – were among those who offered congratulations. Among the controversies was the AfD’s lead candidate in June’s European elections saying that the Nazi SS were “not all criminals”, after which he resigned from the party leadership and renounced all further campaign activities. The AfD’s co-leader Tino Chrupalla said he had also accepted warm wishes from two former members of the German national football team and ex-players from Bayern Munich whom he declined to name. “So greetings to Uli Hoeneß,” he said, referring to the club’s erstwhile general manager. The broadside seemed targeted at comments Hoeneß made at a memorial service for the German football legend Franz Beckenbauer last year in which he wished for a revival of the national spirit in evidence when Germany hosted the World Cup in 2006, “but without the AfD”.∎​