Voters in Germany will go to the polls this Sunday in elections expected to bring a shift to the right. Despite concerns about the country's sluggish economy, campaigning has been dominated by migration and the rise of the far right. Recently, however, foreign policy issues have become crucial again.
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00:00With just hours left before the election, the parties have been making their final pitch.
00:06Christian Democrat Friedrich Metz, the frontrunner to be Germany's next chancellor,
00:10addressed supporters on Thursday.
00:13The war in Ukraine, which played less of a role than expected during most of the campaign,
00:17has become central again, after the US made overtures to Vladimir Putin.
00:24With Donald Trump's comments on Zelensky in Ukraine, it's become clearer what's happening here.
00:29The trench in the Atlantic is getting deeper.
00:35On Friday, Olaf Scholz addressed a large rally of his SPD party.
00:40He too said Germany should stand with Ukraine,
00:43and was uncharacteristically direct as he spoke about the Trump administration.
00:49A favourite word in American politics is transactional.
00:54And if you translate that, it means,
00:58I only think about myself, and I only do what's useful to me.
01:07The Greens, under their lead candidate Robert Habeck,
01:10seem sure to be in the Bundestag, but not necessarily in power.
01:14Three smaller parties cannot be sure if they'll win any seats in the Bundestag.
01:19If they do, it could make forming a new government harder.
01:22The left party are currently riding high, especially with young voters.
01:26They reject tough measures on migration and military support for Ukraine,
01:30and they want a fairer economy.
01:32Another left-wing party leader, Zara Wagenknecht,
01:35hammered home a programme that melds pacifism and left-wing economic policy
01:40with a hard line on immigration.
01:42The Free Democrats, members of Olaf Scholz's coalition until late last year,
01:48could potentially join a government again if they scrape into Parliament.
01:52Meanwhile, all parties are wondering how much of the vote
01:56will go to the alternative for Germany, AFD,
01:59and how loud will the far-right voice be in the coming four years.
02:05Pollsters say one in five voters have not yet made up their minds
02:09in what could be a very consequential, even historic, election.