"I warn against it"

Austria: Ghost in the German election campaign finale

The leading candidates Olaf Scholz (SPD), Robert Habeck (Greens), Friedrich Merz (CDU) and Alice Weidel (AfD)

(Bild: AFP)

One week before the German parliamentary elections, the four leading candidates clash with show host Günther Jauch. And right at the start, it's all about Austria.

"I warn against Austrian conditions", CDU candidate Friedrich Merz compares the FPÖ with the German AfD right at the start. And SPD Chancellor Olaf Scholz is also quick to lash out at challenger Alice Weidel: "There is no cooperation with the extreme right, there must be none, we have laws for that," says the SPD candidate. "I find the comparison with National Socialism scandalous," said AfD leader Alice Weidel indignantly and continued towards Scholz: "You can insult me all you want. You are insulting millions of voters."

Presenter Jauch wants to know from Merz how he feels about the right. "We will not work with the AfD," says Merz. There are many things that "fundamentally" separate the CDU from the AfD. Then the Federal Chancellor intervenes: he is still depressed that the CDU and AfD recently voted together in the Bundestag. "What can you rely on?" Scholz asked, to which he replied: "That's a pop dance." They have "nothing in common with this party and these people". To Weidel: "They are a radical right-wing party." Weidel counters: the AfD is a "liberal-conservative party".

Weidel is the big winner at the beginning, she smiles: "People no longer want this loss of control in this country." This allows her to score points with her supporters, who, according to psychological studies, have a particularly heightened sense of order and are very susceptible to fears. Weidel looks on relaxed as Olaf Scholz and Robert Habeck are blamed for the status quo and trumps Friedrich Merz with more far-reaching demands.

Demos with prominent musicians 
In the run-up to the TV debate, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Berlin to protest against the AfD and the "normalization of right-wing positions". The police in the capital estimated the number of participants on Sunday at around 30,000, while the organizers reported 38,000 people "standing together for democracy and cohesion".

Herbert Grönemeyer supported the demonstrators.

(Bild: AFP)

The alliance "Gemeinsam Hand in Hand" had called for the event one week before the Bundestag elections. The organizers criticized the "normalization of right-wing politics and discourse" and the "strengthening of the extreme right in Germany and Europe". As expected, speeches at the rally were directed against the AfD, but often also against the CDU/CSU and its candidate for chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU).

Musicians such as Herbert Grönemeyer and the drummer of the band Die Ärzte, Bela B, performed at the rally. In a speech, Grönemeyer spoke out in favor of an open-minded and immigration-friendly Germany. "Put your cross with a democratic party," he urged the demonstrators.