Three days after the attack in Munich and in the final phase of a campaign dominated by migration, the major election debate between Olaf Scholz (SPD), Friedrich Merz (CDU) and Robert Habeck (De Groenen) and Alice Weidel (AfD) could also Do not start with another theme. The theme immediately focuses on the proportions. While Scholz and Habeck are defending as government parties, Merz and Weidel are firmly made up. “You are responsible for being killed here every day,” says Weidel. Habeck does not agree: “What Weidel and Merz actually say is a fence around Germany, which will ultimately mean the end of the European internal market.”
Merz again says that he excludes cooperation with the extreme right -wing AfD – despite the earlier breaking through the Brandmaw By seeking cooperation with the party about a strict migration motion. The parties think “fundamentally” differently about many topics, says Merz.
Those fundamental differences become clear when it comes to Ukraine. Weidel refuses to call the cause of the war in Ukraine – a Russian attack in violation of international law – says Merz. And where AfD says it says it is a “patriotic force”, the party does not want to take measures against Russia, which threatens NATO, and she also does not address Elon Musk for his interference in the German elections, he continues. In addition, he also lashes out to Scholz, whom he blames too little money to have put in the Bundeswehr.
Read also
VANCE Support for AfD leads to anger in Germany
The support for AfD from the United States is striking, especially for a party that has been critically in the past with an anti-imperialist attitude towards America. Vice President JD Vance called in German politicians in an opinion article The Wall Street Journal This week to collaborate with Department. “We have friends in the west and the east. We have friends among the Americans, we talk to the Russians and also with the Ukrainians, “says Weidel. She continues about Ukraine: “Fortunately, Trump is now at the helm.”
At this point the isolation of Alice Weidel is the most striking. If the AfD leader says that she does not want Germany to send soldiers to Ukraine in the future, the other three respond unanimously that she is not on the table at all and that they never asked for it. CDU, SPD and the Greens think about Ukraine clearly than Afd. “Ukraine must be a democratic, sovereign nation, about which nothing is decided,” says Scholz.
Quadrelle
The debate was initially set up as a classic duel between Scholz and Merz, but RTL changed the plan and decided to invite the leaders of the four largest parties into the polls. Based on the most recent poll, CDU is still at the top of 30 percent. AfD follows at a large distance of 20 percent, SPD (15 percent) and De Groenen (14 percent) compete for third place.
The debate thus became the first Quadrelle In German TV history, with economy, migration, social affairs, foreign policy and possible coalitions on the program. The climate theme shines again of absence. But the unique of the Quadrelle also appears to be a challenge in practice. The conversation is chaotic, people regularly talk together. The mess comes partly by presenter Günther Jauch, who sometimes asks unimportant or confusing questions, and speaks a few times as confusing or long-winded that his co-presenter must intervene.
From the discussion about the financing of Defense, the conversation, just like last week during the debate between Scholz and Merz, comes back to the so -called debt brake. Scholz wants to reform those strict rules, including to invest more money in Defense. “If we want to continue to support Ukraine, we can only do that if we finance it separately.” But whether the Debt Being canceled is a big question that hangs above the elections.
Read also
‘Tectonic’ changes in the world put pressure on German spare
Merz has not clearly spoken about it. If Habeck asks him how he wants to finance the tax cuts – which, according to the CDU, to pull the economy out of the slop -, an answer is not forthcoming. The leader of the greens is cut off for Merz can respond. Weidel defends the debt brake correctly: “In principle, a state should never spend more than it deserves,” she says. Instead, she wants to cut back on climate policy and development aid, among other things. “Great concept, brilliantly conceived, really great,” Scholz responds ironically.
The Chancellor believes that the national debt should increase, because he does not want extra spending on Ukraine and Defense at the expense of the railways, health care, pensions and care. If Merz blames him for wanting to increase taxes, Scholz responds fiercely: according to him, only people with a million income can expect tax reduction.
According to the presenters, the election programs support the point of Scholz: SPD and the Greens in particular want to lower the burdens of the Germans with lower incomes, CDU and AFD of those with higher incomes. Weidel does not agree with that. “The opposite is true,” she says. AfD in particular wants to alleviate the costs of families by increasing their tax benefits, but a clear financial picture is not forthcoming.
Little depth
Prior to the debate, the leaders of the three smaller parties, Gregor Gysi (Die Linke), Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) and Christian Lindner (FDP), were interviewed by one. That did not lead to new insights. According to the German newspaper Der Spiegel The interviews do not add much to the debate: “Little time, little depth and then unnecessary questions about appearance and clothing style: this” cross -hearing “seems very unnecessary.”
The biggest question is whether these three parties get the electoral threshold of five percent and can thus take a seat in the Bundestag. In the most recent poll, that Linke can count on six percent of the votes, while BSW and FDP seem to be just below the electoral threshold. For Sahra Wagenknecht, that question will determine the success of her young party, which could count on a lot of support shortly after its foundation, but has been fluctuating just under five percent for weeks.
Lindners political survival also depends on achieving the electoral threshold. According to the FDP leader, however, the low polls are not the fault of the party itself, but of the former left-wing coalition partners. Many FDP voters are dissatisfied with the so-called traffic light coalition, in particular with the collaboration with De Groenen. According to Lindner, that is a reason to vote FDP: he says only in this way can a black-green coalition (between CDU/CSU and the Greens) be prevented.
Merz keeps that option open, he says at the end of the debate. The intended Chancellor says he wants two options after the elections: black-red (with SPD) or black-green. “I am sure that meaningful discussions will be possible after the elections.” And that is certainly not with AfD, he emphasizes again in his final word.