Federal election in Germany: These are the important topics

Musk’s intervention triggered a national debate on how Germany deals with its history of the 20th century. The Chancellor described Musk's support for right -wing extremist politicians in Europe as "disgusting".

a new touch for the AfD?

The AfD seems to be in the process of taking a significant place in German politics, as surveys indicate that it could become the second largest political group in the country-a novelty for a right-wing extremist party since the Nazi era. Two central topics are the focus of the election campaign: the containment of the mass immigration and the stabilization of the battered economy.

Who are the main candidates for the Chancellery?

Friedrich Merz

Friedrich Merz from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the party of the former Chancellor Angela Merkel, is the long -term favorite in this competition. The Union, consisting of the CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the CSU, regularly has survey values of over 30% and seems to be determined to become the largest party in Germany and to recapture political leadership.

The CDU pursues a significantly more aggressive immigration policy than in the Merkel era of open borders. In the last few weeks of the campaign, Merz gave rise to immigration. He was accused of enabling cooperation with the AfD.

In January, he caused nationwide outrage when he wanted to initiate legislative measures to tighten immigration controls in the Bundestag. Although he was ultimately unable to adopt a binding law, this broke a long -cherished taboo in German politics and led to massive protests in several cities.

In an interview during the party congress in February, however, Merz confirmed that cooperation with the AfD was out of the question. "They stand against everything we are and build in the Federal Republic of Germany. There is no cooperation with this party," he said.

Merz is not a newcomer to German politics, but completed a second round as a politician. From 1989 to 1994 he was a member of the European Parliament for Germany and then a member of the Bundestag until 2009. After his political career, he worked as a corporate lawyer and relied on numerous supervisory boards - including the investment giant Blackrock. He now represents his hometown Brilon and is widely known as a millionaire with a pilot training.

Alice Weidel

The AfD candidate for the Chancellery, her co-chair Alice Weidel, represents a strict anti-immigration policy. The AfD had a successful run in 2024, became the largest party in Thuringia and also achieved second place in another regional election.

Surveys show that this popularity also arrives at the national level. The party has settled in around 20% since the announcement of the new elections and has hardly lost votes since then.

At a large rally of the AfD, at which Musk was switched on by video, Weidel explained that one of her first measures as a chancellor would "close our limits and then deport all illegal". She describes this policy as "remigration", a term with Nazi connotations.

Olaf Scholz

The SPD, the incumbent Chancellor's party, could be one of the greatest losers of the election. After her success as the largest party in 2021, surveys indicate that it loses about 10 points in voices. This would not only fall behind the AfD, but also compete for third place with the Greens.

Scholz succeeded in power through a wave of post-merkel optimism, but his “traffic light” coalition was characterized by internal struggles from the start. Many of these disputes arose publicly, and the population became tired of the constant arguments.

All of this led to a negative perception of Scholz and his SPD. Scholz evaluated a survey last September as the most unpopular German chancellor since reunification.

Robert Habeck

The Greens, which currently reach around 13% in the surveys, should also be kept in mind. It is unlikely that they collect enough voices to become the largest party, but they could play a crucial role in the formation of the next government. The Greens' candidate for Chancellor is Robert Habeck, who is currently acting as Minister of Economy.

The topics of the election

One of the main topics of this choice is immigration, initiated by several top -class attacks that were allegedly committed by asylum seekers or migrants. Scholz has introduced controls to the neighbors again in recent months, which many saw as an attempt to score with voters who are increasing to the populist AfD.

Another central topic is the economy. Germany's economy, usually one of the strongest in Europe, shows signs of stagnation, and the general opinion is that comprehensive reforms are necessary. In January, the Federal Statistical Office reported that the country's GDP has shrunk by 0.2% for the second time in a row after it had fallen 0.3% in 2023.

Although many of the economic challenges are outside of Scholz 'control, the voters are convinced that the government has done little to improve the situation. An important reason for the current difficulties is the war of Russia in Ukraine. Shortly after the attack on Ukraine, Germany ended its usual dependence on Russian gas. This, together with the growing competition from China in the automotive sector-a decisive part of the German economy-and an impending trade crisis with the warlike Trump administration, shows worrying views.

A close relationship to the economic topic of discussion will be revived by the country's important automotive industry. The central bank has explained that the problems in the industry are “structural” and that the economic development slow down. Large companies such as Volkswagen face the risk of mass layoffs and closures of production facilities.

possible results of the elections

Regardless of the outcome of the election, one thing is almost certain: the AfD will be excluded from working in any coalition. In a special feature of German politics, the ruling coalitions are often called names. The previous coalition government under the SPD (red) included the Greens (green) and the liberals (yellow)-together they were referred to as the "traffic light" coalition.

one thing is clear, however: the next German government will not result in fully educated after the ballot boxes were closed on Sunday evening.

Benjamin Brown from CNN contributed to this report.