The co-leader of Germany’s far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) will attend the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump on January 20, exactly one month before the German federal election, the party said on Thursday. It was announced on .
Tino Churupala’s invitation followed Trump’s ally Elon Musk’s support for AfD and his discussion with co-leader Alice Weidell on social media platform X, which has an impact on European politics. Concerns have been raised about the ambitions of US billionaires to give away
Before the Feb. 23 election in Europe’s largest economy, most opinion polls had the anti-immigrant AfD in second place behind the conservatives. But mainstream political parties have vowed not to cooperate with the party, which is under surveillance by security authorities on suspicion of being a right-wing extremist.
“Attending President Donald Trump’s inauguration demonstrates once again that we are pursuing an interest-driven agenda,” Chulpala said in a statement.
“We are preparing ourselves as an alternative to become a strong partner on the European continent. Germany must maintain good and peaceful relations with all countries,” he added.
President Trump broke with precedent by inviting several foreign leaders to the ceremony. Historically, the United States has not attended inaugurations due to security concerns, instead sending diplomats instead.
However, the German ambassador to the United States is expected to attend the inauguration ceremony on behalf of the German government.
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