Muhamad Yehia
Follow Euronews’ live blog on Sunday as Germany elects its new chancellor and parliament.
Germany heads to the polls this Sunday for snap federal elections in a vote that will shape the course of the EU’s largest member state and its biggest economy for the next four years.
The incoming government will inherit an economy that has shrunk for two years in a row for the first time in decades, burdened by bureaucracy, rising energy costs and a once-crucial car industry struggling to keep up with demand for electric vehicles.
Germany’s conservative parties and far-right AfD lead in the polls, with the centre-right CDU’s Friedrich Merz likely to become chancellor, replacing Olaf Scholz from the centre-left SPD.
Merz’s party is pushing for tax cuts, reform of the country’s ailing military and a radical overhaul of its immigration and asylum rules
Meanwhile, AfD leader Alice Weidel has made headlines for her unexpected bond with South African-born tech billionaire Elon Musk. The AfD has long been critical of the European Union and has said Germany should exit the bloc.
Join us for election day across digital platforms and TV, including this live blog.
Our expert correspondents will be reporting live from party conferences, offering in-depth analysis of the key moments and discussions shaping Germany’s future
Grey election morning
The streets of Berlin are quite empty, the few people out and about are either going to vote or to buy some breakfast, Euronews’ Berlin Bureau Chief Lena Roche writes in.
Scholz vs Merz: final debate
Chancellor Scholz and CDU’s Merz faced off in a final debate on TV last Wednesday, while they discussed migration, the economy, and security issues.
Merz emphasised what is most important to him and his party: migration and economic turnaround. He said these problems must be solved at all costs, or Germany will slide into right-wing populism in a few years.
In terms of the economy, Scholz promises to invest in infrastructure and create a “Made in Germany bonus” to boost investment. Merz, on the other hand, wants to reduce energy prices first, with the help of lower network charges and energy taxes.
Scholz and Merz face off in final debate ahead of German election
Presidential vote
Germany’s President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, has voted in a polling station in Berlin. Steinmeier, who has held the role since 2017, is member of the center-left SPD party.inutes ago
?Who is Friedrich Merz
The 69-year-old CDU leader Friedrich Merz is a major favourite for German chancellorship. He has been consistently ahead in the polls ever since the incumbent Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a confidence vote in December last year, resulting in an early election.
Looking to steer the party in a more conservative direction, he has made curbing irregular migration a central issue in its politics. In January he pushed through a non-binding motion that advocated for stricter immigration rules, such as border controls and increased deportations, despite criticism that this could break both German and EU asylum law.
?Who is Friedrich Merz, the favourite to become Germany’s chancellor
Latest polls: CDU ahead of AfD
The latest polls before the vote suggest that the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is still on course for victory.
The CDU and Chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz are expected to get some 30% of the vote, followed by the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) with around 20%.
The center-left SPD and the Greens are at 16% and 13% respectively.
The Left Party (Die Linke) could enter parliament with up to 8 percent. The FDP (4 to 5%) and the Sahra Wagenknecht alliance (3 to 5%) seem unlikely to meet the threshold
Good morning and welcome to this election live blog
Today some 59.2 million Germans are eligible to vote in federal elections – of which 2.3 million people are first-time-voters.
Polling stations opened at 8am and will be open until 6pm throughout the country, when we expect the first exit polls.
We will take you through the day with this liveblog, correspondents on the ground, and a live TV show when the results come in.
A quick re-cap, these are the top candidates running for Chancellor, and their policy priorities.
German election: Here are the top candidates and their main policies