Experts discussed

What moves Germans during the election campaign

CDU chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz and AfD leader Alice Weidel in a TV duel

(Bild: AFP)

The election campaign in Germany was shorter than any other, but at the same time intense. According to experts, the topic of migration was given a lot of importance this time. Other important issues such as education and climate protection have been overshadowed (see video above).

More attention also needs to be paid to pensions, social justice and security, said Ursula Münch, Director of the Academy for Political Education (APB), in a panel discussion on Thursday. The fact that social justice had been left out had helped the left to gain momentum.

The migration policy of past governments has been "fundamentally a disaster in recent decades", said Münch. The people who have immigrated have not been properly integrated. Why someone is in Germany must be asked. In addition, migration and asylum policy should be kept separate.

Merz and Weidel

(Bild: AFP)

"Lower crime rate"
Sebastian Schäffer, Director of the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe (IDM), had a different perspective. "You could also make the headline that migrant women have made Germany safer, because we have more migrant women compared to ten years ago, but we have a lower crime rate." In the case of the attacks in Munich and Magdeburg, the question should be asked as to why they were carried out just before the elections and whether this was used to influence the election results.

CDU unsettled by Trump
There had been attempts from Russia to play up the knife attacks on the internet. In terms of foreign policy, the election of Donald Trump as US President and the war in Ukraine were also discussed. The CDU was unsettled in its transatlantic self-image by Trump. By contrast, there are many points of contact between the AfD and tech billionaire Elon Musk.

ARD and ZDF published polls again shortly before the election on Sunday. According to these, the CDU/CSU will go into election day with a clear lead, followed by the AfD and, further behind, the SPD and Greens. For smaller parties such as the FDP and BSW, it will be a nail-biter as to whether they will make it into parliament.