Berlin, Germany - Billionaire Elon Musk has renewed his call to Germans to vote for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in February's election, sparking controversy in Berlin.

"The Alternative for Germany is the last spark of hope for this country," Musk writes in a guest article for the Sunday edition of Die Welt newspaper, seen in advance by dpa.

The editorial comes one week after South African-born Musk wrote on his social media platform X: "Only the AfD can save Germany."

With the federal election in Germany due to take place on February 23, the AfD is in second place in the polls with around 19%, behind the conservative CDU/CSU with more than 30%.

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However, all parties currently represented in the Bundestag – Germany's lower house of parliament – have ruled out any cooperation with the AfD, which is being monitored by domestic intelligence services as a suspected right-wing extremist organization.

In his article, Musk explains that he believes the AfD would take the right positions on the issues of Germany's economic recovery, energy supply, and control of migration. He also said that he sees the AfD as committed to what he called "political realism."

He writes that the "portrayal of the AfD as far right is clearly false when you consider that Alice Weidel, the leader of the party, has a same-sex partner from Sri Lanka! Does that sound like Hitler to you?"

Jan Philipp Burgard, the future editor-in-chief of Die Welt Group, contradicted the billionaire's statements in the newspaper.

"Musk's diagnosis is correct, but his approach to therapy, that only the AfD can save Germany, is fatally wrong," he wrote. Both articles – Musk's and Burgard's – are placed directly next to each other in the printed newspaper.

The Musk article has caused trouble within the newspaper's editorial team.

The paper's opinion editor posted on X that she had "submitted [her] resignation after proofreading" as a consequence of the Musk text.

Other Die Welt journalists also publicly posted their displeasure on X.

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Media reports suggest the publication of Musk's guest article triggered a fierce controversy within the editorial team even before Christmas.

The publisher of Die Welt, Axel Springer, gave dpa a joint statement from Ulf Poschardt, the current editor-in-chief of Die Welt Group, and his successor Burgard.

"The current discussion about the text by Elon Musk is very revealing," the statement says. "Democracy and journalism thrive on freedom of expression."

The chairman of the German Journalists' Association (DJV), Mika Beuster, has called on editorial offices not to allow themselves to be exploited in the election campaign and to be "extremely careful" with guest contributions.

"German media outlets must not allow themselves to be misused as mouthpieces for autocrats and their friends," said Beuster.

Musk, now a US citizen, is considered a close adviser to President-elect Donald Trump and has been tapped to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency.

The tech billionaire, who as Tesla boss is one of the biggest employers in the German state of Brandenburg surrounding Berlin, has also been getting involved in British politics, pledging his support to the right-wing populist Reform UK party.