‘A coalition with the far right in Germany is unthinkable’: EPP leader Manfred Weber

The countdown is on to what is perhaps Europe’s most important election of this year. On February 23, Germans go to the polls in a parliamentary vote, following the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition in November. The conservative CDU-CSU is the favourite, but no party looks likely to win a majority, and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is polling strongly. We sit down with an important player in the CSU: Manfred Weber, who is the president of the conservative European People’s Party (EPP) in the EU Parliament. We talk about the far right in Germany and Europe, Elon Musk’s support for the AfD, the EU’s relations with US President Donald Trump, and why the EPP is putting more focus on competitiveness and the European car industry.