German Election Live: Final voting predicts big winnings for Departments before voters gave up ballot papers

With the advent of the right-right alternative for the Germany Party, the residents of Munich tell Tom Watling of the horror of suffering the third suspected terrorist attack of the country’s election cycle

The question of how to tackle the new administration of US President Donald Trump, who has already marked the opportunity for increased customs and reduced military support for Europe is particularly sensitive to Germany. The United States remains the top destination for German exports and its most important security allocation.

The SPD’s Scholz has sharply received Trump’s comments on Greenland and Canada, while Conservative Frontrunner Merz warned against lecturing him and instead emphasized areas with possible cooperation as a potential EU-US trade agreement or common China strategy.

The Green Habeck said the EU should stand united and seek conversations with the Trump administration because a trade war will eventually hurt all sides.

All the mainstream parties have expressed skepticism about Trump’s demand for European countries to increase defense spending to 5 percent of economic production, considering that Germany will already fight to stick to 2 percent after its special fund for The military is running out. However, Habeck has already proposed an increase to 3.5 percent.

The German party, which has the most embraced the Trump administration, is the AfD who received several endorsements from Trump’s allied Elon Musk, resulting in his conversation about X with the party’s chancellor candidate Alice Weidel.

A middle -aged woman clinging a emptied cardboard box stands silently over the latest pile with fresh red flowers near Munich Central Station. A pink child’s dress hangs on the handrails above next to an Algerian flag and a doll. Teddy Bears sit among posters and require peace.

It’s been just over a week since a 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker drove his white mini into a quantity that participated in a trade union demonstration-the third suspected terrorist attack in Germany in so many months.

More than two dozen were injured. A woman originally from Algeria who later worked for the government and her two -year -old child was killed.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the collapse of his three -way coalition in November, which brought the originally planned election in September ahead.

After the collapse of the coalition:

• December: A 50-year-old Saudi Arabian man drove a truck into a Christmas market in Magdeburg, killed six and wounded 200.
• January: A 28-year-old Afghan man attacked a school group and killed a two-year-old child and a man in Aschaffenburg.
• February: Last Thursday, an attack in Munich left several victims. Authorities believe that the assailant, Farhad Noori, may have had “Islamist motivation.”

Germany has not seen significant economic growth in five years.

It is a fantastic turn for Europe’s largest economy, which for much of this century had expanded exports and dominated world trade with constructed products such as industrial machines and luxury cars.

So what happened? Here are five reasons for Germany’s ongoing financial decline:

Germany’s mainstream parties favors everyone to help Ukraine avert Russia’s invasion, while the AfD and BSW want an end to weapons supplies to Kiev and a resumption of good relations with Moscow.

However, Scholz and his SPD have recently beaten a more cautious tone – emphasizes the need for diplomacy – than the Conservatives, Green and FDP, all of which are for Germany delivering Taurus missiles with long -range to Kyiv.

Scholz has proposed incentive private investment and modernization of infrastructure with an off-budget, 100 billion euro fund. His SPD also plans a direct tax refund of 10 percent on equipment investments from companies.

Like Scholz, the Green Robert Habeck has called for reform of Germany’s constitutionally abandoned debt brake to allow for higher public spending.

Merz had also signaled some openness to a moderate reform of the debt brake, but his party’s manifesto has promised to preserve it. The AfD and FDP are tough defenders of the border of public borrowing.

The CDU/CSU manifesto has proposed extensive financial exemption from businesses and citizens, including income and corporate tax relief and lower electricity fees. They have not said how these would be financed.

The AfD wants Germany to ditch the euro, reintroduce the Deutsche mark and potentially leave the EU.

The Germans go to the polls on Sunday in a central election that will shape the country’s orbit over the next four years and significantly influence Europe’s political landscape.

As the most populous nation of the European Union and a leading member of NATO, Germany’s political direction has a significant emphasis on the international scene.

The result of the election will also determine Germany’s continued role in supporting Ukraine against Russian aggression, which the country is currently standing as the second largest weapon supplier to Ukraine after the United States.

The new German government will also play a key role in the design of Europe’s relationship with the Trump administration.

Here’s a look at what to expect for Sunday and beyond:

When a young German anti-climate activist called “Anti-Greta Thunberg” began flattering tech billionaire Elon Musk on X, could have foreseen what led to the technical billionaire who wholeheartedly supports Germany’s right-wing right. It would take only ten months.

Germany goes to the electoral measurements on Sunday, and there is fear that the Alternative for Deutschland (AfD), a political party that was partly appointed as extremists on the right, could win almost a quarter of the national vote.

The X-owner turned Trump Ally Musk described the AfD as the only party that “can save Germany”, interviewed the party’s leader, Alice Wihedel, spoken at the AfD’s Election rally and wrote an up-ed who approved the party.

Tom Watling and Alicja Hagopian Report: