Final push in election campaign: Germany poised to vote
Germany's snap federal elections take place on Sunday. The latest polls put the CDU/CSU in the lead with 30 percent, followed by the right-wing populist AfD with 20 percent. The current chancellor's SPD party and the Greens are trailing behind with 16 and 13 percent respectively. The Left Party (at 7 percent), FDP (5 percent) and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (4 percent) have good chances of securing seats in the Bundestag. Europe's press examines potential outcomes.
SPD grasping at straws
Chancellor Scholz is trying to discredit CDU leader Friedrich Merz in the final phase of the campaign, Český rozhlas observes:
“Merz has publicly stated countless times in recent days that he has no intention of working either directly or indirectly with the AfD after the election. The ruling Social Democrats, who apparently have no chance of defending their 2021 victory, continue to sow doubt. In the last few metres of the race their election campaign has become monothematic, directed entirely against Merz personally. The SPD is doing this knowing full well that it will probably have to negotiate the next government with him. From the outside this may seem short-sighted, but from the perspective of a drowning man grasping at straws, it is somewhat understandable.”
Collective boost needed
La Vanguardia sees enormous challenges ahead:
“For all the AfD's headlines, Germany's most worrying problem right now may not be immigration but the identity crisis provoked by the realisation that the German economic miracle is stalling; the car industry, which accounts for six percent of GDP and 870,000 direct jobs, faces an uphill battle against Trump's tariffs and the Chinese car industry. ... This industrial crisis will probably be more difficult to overcome than the social one. ... The winner of the election must be acutely aware that the top priority must be to inject momentum and restore the country's confidence - in a Europe that is more isolated than ever before. ... Germany needs a real collective boost to return to its best form.”
Moscow bracing for worst-case scenario
Radio Kommersant FM expects German-Russian relations to deteriorate if Merz becomes chancellor:
“In the worst-case scenario Merz will follow his words with deeds and implement his election programme without taking into account the SPD, which traditionally pursues a more balanced policy towards Moscow. In this case, Germany will drastically increase its military budget (initially up to 3 percent of GDP, which Scholz rejects), boost aid to Kyiv, move closer to London and Paris on the issue of sending European troops to Ukraine and support maximum anti-Russian sanctions in Brussels, aligning itself with Poland and the Baltic states.”