German far-right leader to attend Trump inauguration

BERLIN (Reuters) - A co-leader of Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) will attend the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Jan. 20 just a month before a federal election in Germany, the party said on Thursday.

The invitation to Tino Chrupalla follows an endorsement of the AfD by Trump ally Elon Musk and a discussion with co-leader Alice Weidel on social media platform X which fed concern about the U.S. billionaire's ambition to influence European politics.

Most polls put the anti-immigration AfD in second place behind the conservatives before the Feb. 23 election in Europe's biggest economy. However, mainstream parties have vowed not to work with the party which is being monitored by security services on suspicion of being right-wing extremist.

"Attending the inauguration of President Donald Trump shows once again that we are implementing our interest-led policies," Chrupalla said in a statement.

"We stand ready as an alternative to be a strong partner on the continent of Europe. Germany must maintain good and peaceful relations with all countries," he added.

Trump has broken with precedent and invited several foreign leaders to the ceremony. Historically, they have not attended the inaugural due to security concerns and have sent diplomats in their stead.

However, Germany's government will be represented at the inauguration by its ambassador to the United States.

(Reporting by Madeline Chambers; editing by Matthias Williams)

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