Merz to MAGA: Butt out of Europe’s elections

(Nette Nöstlinger – Politico) German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Wednesday pushed back against a new, million-dollar funding scheme from U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to support “free speech and religious liberty” in Europe. The funding comes against the backdrop of the U.S.’s efforts to support nationalist parties in Europe as part of its National Security Strategy and burgeoning links between the Trump administration and Europe’s far right, including the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. “We do not interfere in American elections; we’ve always stuck to that,” Merz said in Berlin in response to a reporter’s question on whether he deemed the initiative to be valid advocacy or political interference. “Conversely, I don’t want the American government or government-affiliated institutions to interfere in German elections,” he added. – Merz to MAGA: Butt out of Europe’s elections – POLITICO