Scholz dismisses Elon Musk’s assertion only far-right party can ‘save’ Germany

Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks with the media as he arrives for an EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels (Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP)

Chancellor Olaf Scholz has dismissed an assertion by Elon Musk that only a far-right party can “save Germany”, but said that freedom of opinion “also goes for multibillionaires”.

Germany is expected to vote in an early election on February 23 after Mr Scholz’s three-party governing coalition collapsed last month in a dispute over how to revitalise the country’s stagnant economy.