Elon Musk made a surprise address at a campaign launch for Germany's far-right AFD party ahead of next month's election.

In a live video, the US tech billionaire spoke to a crowd of more than four thousand people.

He called on Germans to preserve their culture, as he appeared to refer to the country's Nazi past.

"It's okay to be proud to be German," he said.

"This is a very important principle.

"I think there's frankly too much of a focus on past guilt and we need to move beyond that.

"Children should not be guilty of the sins of their parents or even, let alone their parents, their great-grandparents."

Elon Musk rests his chin on his hand, © Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

This marks the second time in the last two weeks Mr Musk has publicly spoken in support of the anti-immigration, anti-Islamic party, which has been labelled right-wing-extremist by German security services.

He previously hosted AfD leader Alice Weidel in an interview on X, raising concerns of election meddling.

The opposition centre-right Union bloc is currently at the top of pre-election polls, followed by the AfD - but mainstream parties have declared they will not work with the far-right party.

Mr Musk's mounting support for the AfD will likely raise further concerns about election meddling and the surging popularity of the far-right in Germany.

Mr Musk previously caused outrage last week after performing what many saw as a Nazi salute at Donald Trump's inauguration.

Main image: US billionaire Elon Musk talks to Alice Weidel (r), Federal Chairwoman of the AfD, at the AfD's election campaign launch via a video overlay. Photo: Hendrik Schmidt/dpa. 25 January 2025