German voters head to the polls on Sunday, with the conservatives the strong favorites after a campaign rocked by a far-right surge and the dramatic return of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Frontrunner Friedrich Merz has vowed a tough rightward shift if elected to win back voters from the far-right anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is eyeing a record result after a string of deadly attacks blamed on asylum seekers.
If he takes over from embattled center-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz, as widely predicted given a yawning poll gap, the CDU leader has promised a "strong voice" in Europe at a time of chaotic disruption.
The pivotal vote in the European Union's biggest economy comes amid tectonic upheaval in U.S.-Europe ties sparked by Trump's direct outreach to Russian President Vladimir Putin over their heads to end the Ukraine war.
Across Europe, NATO allies worry about the future of the alliance, nowhere more than in Germany which grew prosperous under the U.S.-led security umbrella.
However, it may take Merz many weeks to negotiate a coalition government, spelling yet more political paralysis in Berlin during such fraught time.
In a strange twist to the polarised campaign, the AfD has basked in the glowing support lavished on it by Trump's entourage, with billionaire Elon Musk touting it as the only party to "save Germany".
Trump, asked about the elections in Germany, which he has berated over its trade, migration and defense policies, said dismissively that "I wish them luck, we got our own problems".
Merz, in his final CDU/CSU campaign event in Munich on Saturday, said Europe needed to walk tall to be able to "sit at the main table" of the world powers.
Voicing strong confidence, the 69-year-old former investment lawyer told supporters that "we will win the elections and then the nightmare of this government will be over".
"There is no left majority and no left politics anymore in Germany," Merz told a raucous beer hall, promising to tighten border controls and revive flagging Germany Inc.
For the next German leader, more threats loom from the United States, long its bedrock ally, if Trump sparks a trade war that could hammer Germany's recession-hit economy.
Scholz will stay in charge as caretaker until any new multi-party government takes shape -- a task which Merz has already said he hopes to achieve by Easter in two months.
Polling stations open at 8 a.m. with more than 59 million Germans eligible to vote and first estimates based on exit polls expected after polls close at 6 p.m.
Up to 30 percent of voters remained undecided last week, among them Sylvia Otto, 66, who said that "I still find it difficult to make a decision this time".
Speaking in Berlin, she said she wanted "a change -- but now a change to the right. That's very important to me".
At an AfD rally elsewhere in Berlin, a 49-year-old engineer, who gave his name only as Christian, praised the party's leader Alice Weidel as a "tough woman, stepping on the toes of the other parties".
These, he said, "are now adopting the AfD's programs and passing them off as their own. So she is doing something right."
Germany's political crisis was sparked when Scholz's unhappy coalition collapsed on November 6, the day Trump was re-elected.
Scholz's SPD, the Greens and the liberal FDP had long quarreled over tight finances.
The SPD's historically low polls ratings of around 15 percent suggest Scholz paid the price for policy gridlock and Germany's parlous economic performance at a time the Ukraine war sent energy prices through the roof.
Frustration with the leadership fueled the rise of the AfD, which has been polling at 20 percent but looks set to stay in opposition as all other parties have vowed to keep it out of power.
The AfD, strongest in the ex-communist east, is on track for its best-ever result after Germany was shocked by a series of high-profile attacks in which the suspects were asylum seekers.
In December a car-ramming through a Christmas market crowd killed six people and wounded hundreds, with a Saudi man arrested at the scene.
More deadly attacks followed, both blamed on Afghan asylum seekers: a stabbing spree targeting kindergarten children and another car-ramming attack in Munich.
On Friday, a Syrian man who police said wanted to "kill Jews" was arrested after a Spanish tourist was stabbed in the neck at Berlin's Holocaust memorial.
While Merz has vowed to shutter German borders and lock up those awaiting deportation, the AfD has argued that Germans will "vote for the original".
© 2025 AFP
29 Comments
kurisupisu
It’s no wonder that there is a push to the right in Germany. Almost every week there’s an incident where Germans are hurt.
It’s no wonder that there is a push to the right in Germany. Almost every week there is an incident where Germans are hurt
.Germans are tired of being stabbed, murdered, raped, abused et cetera et cetera
Blacklabel
“Trump…..said dismissively that "I wish them luck, we got our own problems".
but despite him not caring, at all, his name is still in the headline, why?
under the shadow of….Trump. Sounds so spooky and ominous. lol
wallace
The AfD party will not be part of the next government. Its leader, Alice Elisabeth Weidel, lives in Switzerland, not Germany, with her Sri Lankan wife.
Blacklabel
What a turn of events.
Just last year G7 attendees down to only struggling Macron and Meloni.
(unless you want to count “already on the way out” Justin Canada)
M3M3M3
The AfD might be "far-right" by German standards, but it's see them as "far-right" by any objective standard. Their most controversial policy proposal (ie. paying migrants a few thousand Euros to leave voluntarily) is something that the Social Democrats in Denmark have been doing for years.
itsonlyrocknroll
If you want to trigger, then slip in "Trump" at the end of a headline.
AfD is part of the political landscape long before Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a confidence vote.
"Far-right" is the latest go to fear mongering shut down, to shield hide failure in government/office.
The sacked of finance minister Christian Lindner was the final straw of this feckless blundering "liberal" infested German government ultimately hastened by the coalition, Social Democrats, Greens, Free Democratic Party collapse.
Scholz blamed Lindner, former finance minister “petty, uncompromising, untrustworthy”.
Linder’s embittered, scornful response was withering, publicly rebuking Scholz of poor leadership/incompetence.
Alice Weidel AfD, if the polls are correct will undoubtably not only guide government but be dominate the agenda
wallace
The AfD won't have a seat at the table because the majority of voters will not vote for them.
bass4funk
I doubt that, from the looks of it, you just might be wrong.
wallace
"This has real-world consequences, in Germany, too. Disinformation undermines social cohesion and can influence elections. Musk crosses a red line when he deliberately interferes in democratic processes."
Musk has used his influence to spread misinformation and populist narratives.
wallace
"The center-right Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) looks set to once again become the largest party in the Bundestag with 220 seats, allowing them to reinstall their first chancellor since Angela Merkel stepped down in 2021."
"The far-right AfD’s 145 seats will surpass the 115 projected for the governing SPD.
bass4funk
Seems like they are getting bigger, little by little.
https://apnews.com/article/germany-far-right-afd-election-migration-weidel-53ed34f57556ad394c53868726d47194
itsonlyrocknroll
2017 federal election, AfD won 12.6% of the vote and received 94 seats; this was the first time it had won seats in the Bundestag.
Conservative opposition leader, Friedrich Merz, could well be the next chancellor.
In September 2024, he was unanimously elected Conservative candidate for the chancellorship.
Merz can count the support of Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), and the Christian Social Union (CSU) in Bavaria.
However, Alice Weidel AfD if predicted will have overwhelming political influence, if Germen voter provide a popular mandate at the ballot box, no hiding place here.
To deny Alice Weidel AfD a seat at the table, to snub German voters democratic wish at the ballot box could be tantamount to political treachery rendering these elections a sham.
Friedrich Merz will sooner or later bring AfD into government, or face the bitter political consequences
Pukey2
The mainstream media telling you not to vote for AFD but for the old establishment alternative where you'll get the same old neo-liberal rubbish which got Europe into this mess and will continue with wars and genocide. There's a real alternative: Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht - a REAL left-wing party which is opposed to wars and all the current madness you see within the EU. But the media and the establishment are trying to suppress parties like this and the Workers' Party in the UK and the Green Party in USA because peace brings no financial profits.
Deo Gratias
Doesn't the media typically use "rocked" to describe negative and harmful events, like earthquakes and terrorist attacks?
The raging media bias in this story lead couldn't be more obvious.
You call it "rocked by far-right surges." Many of us, though, call it "a return to common sense and a taking-back of our countries from the clutches of far-left extremists."
No wonder the public's perception of and trust in the media are at all-time lows. Sometimes we just can't despise the media enough.
wallace
bass4funk
Not enough to govern or have a seat at the table of the new government, or probably the next one.
You lost your right to vote.
itsonlyrocknroll
Pukey2, Deo Gratias comments resonate.
The political will of the people is being subrogated with the same dogmatic illiberal idelodgy aided by a willing bias media.
Soon social media could be "shut down" if and when a German government sees fit to declare a public emergency crisis.
JD Vance made such a warning clear
bass4funk
I agree
That I don’t agree on, if they were so insignificant why are these politicians worried? You never worry about any adversary unless you saw them as a serious threat
No, I did not.
iknowall
Nicely put.
When your values conflict with what someone else says, it does not make those words misinformation.
Sven Asai
Let's be a bit realistic, the effective result will be a further shift to center left and extreme left, because the right block of votes is ignored at all costs and denied cooperation with, and the conservatives therefore have to form a coalition with other parties which are all very left and will dictate their conditions. So the future development will be exactly the contrary of what most voters try to express today.
wallace
bass4funk
You lost your right to vote.
If you have not lived in Germany for more than 25 years you lose your voting rights.
You can check it out yourself.
"You live permanently abroad, and you are eligible to vote if:
You have lived continuously in Germany for at least three months after the age of 14. This stay must not be more than 25 years ago."
https://handbookgermany.de/en/rights-laws/elections.html
iknowall
I'm sure he has, which is why he told you the current factual status.
itsonlyrocknroll
Donald trump return to the oval office I don't believe will have any influence on west german voters, east german I wonder.
German elections and voter expectations — MADE
https://www.dw.com/en/elections-in-germany-what-are-voters-expectations/video-71639846
Just a thought, worth a view.
bass4funk
No, I did not.
You don’t know a thing about me, nothing
Wrong as well.
and you are eligible to vote if:
Again, don’t worry about me, you keep getting it wrong, don’t stress, but I can’t vote. Back to the topic. Germany is at a breaking point and neither the CDU or SPD can entirely lift the Germans problems away, that’s just not going to happen. Germany is basically one giant California without the fires, earthquakes and mudslides.
u_s__reamer
The German government, not the people, is on the wrong side of history (3rd genocide). The Left may save Germany this time, but maybe not come the brown jubilee year of 2033.
Tokyo Guy
I would hope that even if the Germans "do a USA" and vote in more nazis, these nazis will at least recognize the importance of a safe and united Europe and thus maintain their support of Ukraine. Germany's a lot closer to Russia than the US is.
browny1
@Bass4funk
Actually it's quite common knowledge that Alice Weidel and Sarah Bossard the Sri Lankan film maker have been in a long term relationship and have 2 adopted kids. Their home is in Switzerland. She has a residence in Germany for political reasons - obviously.
Most people following German politics will know this.
bass4funk
True
Yup!
They should, I agree
itsonlyrocknroll
Are German voters expectation closer to Merkel or Trump?
German election: Parties into final stretch before voting
https://www.dw.com/en/german-election-parties-into-final-stretch-before-voting/live-71695104
Currently, right-wing opposition parties continue leading in the polls with the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), hovering around 30% support and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AFD) trailing them with around 20%.
"To the point" worth a spin
. *HopeSpringsEternal
Sane Immigration and pursuing a path to peace vs. WWIII is not radical or right, rather Common Sense!