In an interview with the French channel RMC, former EU Commissioner Thierry Breton spoke out on the alleged influence of Elon Musk on the German elections.
Breton resigned in September, citing disagreements with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen; prior to that, he was in charge of the Internal Market and Services, including the controversial Digital Services Act, a law that grants the EU bureaucracy the power to intervene in internet platforms.
In the new interview, Breton demands that the European Commission must enforce its laws.
“As soon as something is spread on a regulated platform in Europe, it must follow European rules. The AfD must comply with them. It’s clear, I’m sure, that we will take all measures to ensure they comply with the law. If they don’t respect it, there are penalties and the possibility of a ban. We are equipped, we must enforce these laws to protect our democracies in Europe.”
What Breton understands by the protection of democracy was evident in August, when Breton, before a conversation between Elon Musk and Donald Trump on X, demanded that Musk make the conversation inaccessible to European users, or else they would take action against the platform.
Now, Breton has taken an additional step, no longer just threatening Elon Musk and his platform X, but also Germany.
“Let’s wait and see what happens. Let’s remain calm and enforce our laws in Europe. (..) We did it in Romania, and apparently, we will have to do it in Germany if necessary.”
In Romania, just a few weeks ago, the first round of the presidential elections was declared invalid on the basis of a later-disproven claim of Russian influence. The EU-critical candidate, Calin Georgescu, had won. In fact, the advertising videos for Georgescu’s party, presented as “Wahleinmischung” (election mixing), were financed by another Romanian party, which aimed to strengthen its own position.