European Digital Editor in Germany
German rival political leaders will fight for voices until the last moment in pressure that reflects the central nature of Sunday’s elections, not only for their country, but also for Europe as a whole.
Conservative leader Friedrich Merz told the fans that under his leadership, Germany would take responsibility in Europe and that the far right alternative to Germany (AFD) would be sent to the political margins once again.
He will end the campaign of his Christian Democratic Party in Munich, while his rivals will give the final attraction in the TV program “Speed-Dating” with voters.
For months, German policy has been paralyzed by a collapse of the previous government.
Now, throughout Europe, the hope of this voting has emerged that this vote will bring some security in the largest democracy of the EU -and its largest economy, which fought to escape from a long -lasting recession.
Nothing will change overnight. No party can manage without the formation of the coalition, which will take weeks.
The revival of the economy was one of the two big campaign issues; Others were migration and security, which pushed a series of deadly attacks in German politicians since May 2024.
The cities of Mannheim, Solingen, Magdeburg, Aschaffenburg and Munich suffered severe attacks. The Spanish tourist was stabbed in the Holocaust Memorial in the center of Berlin on Friday night, although his wounds are not considered life -threatening.
All alleged attackers were immigrants, and AFD under Alice Weidel progressed at about 20% on the polls with its nationalist, immigration message.
She appealed to younger voters on social media, and is far in the Tictok race, with 870,000 followers. She was also attracted to the support of the billionaire Elon Musk and US V
AFD talks about ensuring German borders and deporting migrants who came illegally and committed crimes. But it uses the word “remigracy” that is also associated with mass deportations.
In Solingen, where Syrijac was charged with a stab to the death of three persons last August, hundreds of people appeared on Friday night to speak against the rise of the far right.
“We have many friends who grew up in Germany whose parents are not,” said one woman called Natalie, 35 years. “We don’t want anyone to be kicked out and we don’t want our borders to be closed.”
One man called Jochen kept a sign that read “never again now!”
There was a great police presence at the protest, and a stab on Friday night in Berlin increased his security fears.
A spokesman for the police union warned about the risk of attacks aimed at destabilizing democracy.
All major parties have excluded work with the AFD in the Government, but if he surveyed more than 20%, in a 630 seat parliament, he could double his number of seats at 150.
Merzov is the most likely partner is Social Democrats of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, although probably without Scholz himself. The message from his left SPD as the last day of the campaign was to count every voice, and if the Germans want a strong government, they need a strong SPD.
Social Dem
Friedrich Merz was in a relaxed and confident mood when he appeared on stage this week in front of 1,200 supporters in the city of Darmstadt near Frankfurt. But his message was sharp as he turned his thoughts to Presidency Donald Trump.
One hand in his pocket, and the other that holds the microphone, spoke of unprecedented times and “tectonic shifts in world centers of power.”
“The political order is now falling apart. On what we used to for decades is falling apart.” He wasn’t even sure if he would join Germany in the 70th year of his accession to NATO in the summer.
He castrated his departure government for not taking a leading role on the international stage.
“The German government and the chancellor finally have to take a leading role in Europe. If I am elected, I will spend a significant part of my time holding this European Union together.”
The Germans had almost nocturnal occasions to see their political leaders throw out big questions in TV discussions, and Alice Weidel was in the crowd, sharing the stage with Merz and Scholz.
In the course of voting, she met Vice -President JD Vance, who was late German politicians for raising a “firewall” against the end right and neglect of the “will of voters”.
That firewall – Brandmauer In German – he had been strong since the end of the war, although Merz himself was accused of breaking him when he relied on the support of AFD last month in the proposal of migration.
He has since faced demonstrations, and he was a noisy protest when he visited Darmstadt.
PhD, 29, held Herz Statt Merz Banner – Love instead of Merz. “He says he won’t do something with the end right AFD, but his actions are contrary to what he says. I don’t believe him at all.”
Merz seems to have stuck by the games and sought to convince the voters that there will be no “no tolerance, no minority government [with the AfD]nothing. “
