German voters headed to the polls on Sunday for snap elections, with the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leading in the polls and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) poised to make significant gains, Al Jazeera reports.
The election, triggered by the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition government in November, takes place amidst economic challenges, social polarization, and shifting geopolitical dynamics.
CDU frontrunner Friedrich Merz made a final appeal to voters on Saturday, promising to revive Germany’s economy and strengthen its role in the European Union.
“With me, Germany will have a strong voice in the European Union again,” Merz told supporters in Munich, adding that Europe must “safeguard our interests against Russia, against China, and if necessary also with respect to America.”
He attributed Germany’s economic weakness, which has seen the economy shrink for the past two years, to “overwhelmingly homemade” issues. The CDU is currently polling around 30 percent.
The snap election comes as Europe and Germany face significant challenges, including:
- Tensions with a confrontational US administration under President Trump, such as threats of a trade war and a shift away from a previous Western stance on the Ukraine war, loom over the German economy.
- The AfD, polling at around 20 percent, is expected to achieve a historic result, fueled by public anger over immigration and security concerns. Recent incidents, including a stabbing at Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial and a car ramming in Munich, have amplified these concerns.
- The AfD has garnered support from figures within Trump’s inner circle, including Elon Musk and Vice President JD Vance.
- Chancellor Scholz, whose Social Democrats are struggling in the polls, has called halting the rise of the AfD a “central task” of the election.
