US vice president draws German rebuff for championing far-right AfD

Berlin: US Vice President J D Vance on Friday backed a German far-right party as an eligible political partner in remarks rebuffed by Berlin as unwelcome interference in an upcoming election.

The anti-immigration AfD, currently polling at around 20 per cent ahead of the February 23 general election, has pariah status among other major political parties in a country with a taboo about far-right politics because of its Nazi past.

In a policy dubbed the "firewall", parties have formed a consensus not to work with the AfD, which is under surveillance by the German domestic intelligence service.

In an apparent reference to the catchword, Vance said: "Democracy rests on the sacred principle that the voice of the people matters. There's no room for firewalls."

"No voter on this continent went to the ballot box to open the floodgates to millions of unvetted immigrants," Vance also said, speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Friday.

Conservative leader Friedrich Merz, who polls show is likely to be Germany's next chancellor, was

accused by rivals last month

of breaking the firewall by initiating parliamentary motions that relied on AfD support. But he, too, has ruled out forming a government with the far-right party.

Earlier on Friday, a German government spokesperson said Vance should not interfere in Germany's election, when asked about a Wall Street Journal report in which Vance was quoted as saying he would urge German politicians to work with all parties including the AfD.

"I don't think it is right for foreigners, including those from friendly foreign countries, to interfere so intensively in an election campaign in the middle of an election period," the German government spokesperson said at a press conference.

Billionaire US businessman Elon Musk, the biggest donor to President Donald Trump's election effort and now head of Trump's task force to cut US government spending, has publicly backed the AfD.