US ambassador infuriates Germans with Kurz invite

THE US ambassador to Germany was yesterday accused of attempting to act as a rival to Angela Merkel after it emerged he had invited Sebastian Kurz, the Austrian chancellor, to a meeting during his visit to Berlin next week.

The row comes a day after Richard Grenell, who was personally appointed ambassador by Donald Trump, came under attack from all sides of the German political spectrum over an interview with Breitbart magazine in which he said he wanted to “empower conservatives across Europe”.

The German foreign ministry has demanded an explanation from the US while opposition politicians have accused Mr Grenell of “interfering” in the country’s politics.

Spiegel magazine described him as acting like an “alternative chancellor” to Mrs Merkel, while Martin Schulz, the former leader of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), said he was behaving “like a far-right colonial officer”.

Mr Grenell has invited the Austrian chancellor to lunch at the US embassy next week, when Mr Kurz is in town for talks with Mrs Merkel.

It is highly unusual for ambassadors to entertain visiting heads of government. Mr Grenell said he considered Mr Kurz, who is the world’s youngest head of state at 31, a “rock star”.