Germany has hit back at Elon Musk after he waded into the country’s migrant debate. The Tesla boss had tweeted in support of Chancellor Merkel’s open-door policy to refugees after German interior minister Horst Seehofer said he wanted to turn away migrants at the border if they had already applied for asylum in another EU country.
This prompted an angry response from the Federal Ministry of the Interior, which said that it is not up to private citizens to decide state policy, and suggested that Musk should focus on running his company. They said that decisions on refugee policy are made by the political representatives of the people and not businessmen.
Musk has since suggested that he was simply expressing his opinion, as any other citizen would. He said that it was important to be open and welcoming to those seeking asylum. The dispute between Merkel and Seehofer has since been resolved, with both agreeing on a compromise.
