Will the far right be the second largest party? Everything you need to know about Germany’s elections
Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his government face being voted out of office next week, as Germany heads to the polls in an election dominated by Ukraine, energy prices and the rise of the far right.
The election comes after the ruling three-party coalition collapsed on the day Donald Trump’s return to the presidency was confirmed last year.
Here’s everything you need to know as Europe’s biggest economy goes to the polls.
When is the election and when will we know the result?
Elections will be held on 23 February across Germany.
Polls close at 6pm, after which the first results exit polls are published (they aren’t allowed before that time).
Additional, more precise projections follow soon after, based on votes counted at a handful of polling stations.
Generally, the preliminary official results are published on the night of the election, based on results from every polling station.
Olaf Scholz speaks ahead of the German election. Pic: Reuters
Who are the main parties?
Germany has two centrist, “big-tent” parties: Mr Scholz’s centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) and the opposition conservatives, made up of the Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU).
Both of them have lost support in recent years, and smaller parties have gained ground such as the Greens and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Also running are the pro-market Free Democrats (FDP), the far-left Linke and the leftist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW).
Friedrich Merz could be the next German chancellor. Pic: AP
Who are the main party leaders?
Olaf Scholz, 66, from the SPD is the current chancellor of Germany.
He was given the post in December 2021 and has led the country through various crises, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
But his three-party coalition with the Greens and the FDP was fraught with argument and his popularity has fallen significantly during his time as chancellor.
While he is again running for the top job, he is expected to be voted out of office, based on polling.
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Germans protest against right-wing parties
Friedrich Merz, 69, whose opposition bloc has been ahead in the polls, is an experienced politician and a familiar face in the German conservative movement.
He was famously pushed aside by former chancellor Angela Merkel, but is now back and expected to win the top job after returning to politics and promising a break from Ms Merkel’s centrist approach.
Mr Merz drew controversy this year after his motion on migration passed with the support of the AfD – seen by some as breaking a taboo against cooperating with the far-right party. He continues to reject going into coalition with them.
He has positioned himself as someone who could get along with Donald Trump, despite previously calling out the US leader’s response to his 2020 election defeat.
Alice Weidel’s AfD have gained popularity. Pic: AP
The AfD’s leader Alice Weidel has overseen a rise in support for her party and will now lead them into the election.
The 46-year-old is an unusual figure to lead a German hard right-wing party that advocates for a “traditional family” – a gay woman with a PhD in economics, a Sri Lankan partner, two children and a home in another country – she commutes from Switzerland.
Ms Weidel will fight the election with a manifesto that follows a familiar pattern from other successful populist campaigns in Europe and beyond – contempt for mainstream politicians, anger over levels of irregular immigration, a desire to rein in the power of the European Union and dismay over the spread of so-called woke values.
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Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Kyiv. Pic: Reuters
What are the key issues in the German elections?
Ukraine has been a key consideration in European politics for years now and these polls are no different.
All of Germany’s mainstream parties favour aid to Ukraine, but Mr Scholz has been seen as taking a more cautious tone than the conservatives, Greens and FDP. Mr Scholz, for instance, has so far refused to supply long-range Taurus missiles to Kyiv while the three other parties support sending them.
The AfD want weapons deliveries to Ukraine stopped and a resumption of good relations with Russia.
The war has forced Germany to re-evaluate its attitude towards its defence and military in a way it has not had to since the Second World War.
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Germany has changed its attitude to defence
The economy is also central to the election, in particular the issue of whether to reform Germany’s constitutionally enshrined debt brake to allow for higher public spending.
The CDU, SPD and Greens are all in favour of expanding renewable energy to reduce costs, but differ in how they would achieve that. In contrast, the AfD opposes renewable energy subsidies and advocates for unrestricted coal-fired power plant operations.
A series of violent attacks linked to foreign suspects in Germany have compounded public concerns over security and migration, leading to political parties demanding stricter measures on migration.
Both the CDU and SPD have toughened their position on the issue, while the anti-Islam, anti-migration AfD has called for borders to be closed
What are the polls saying?
Mr Merz’s conservatives have been ahead in the polls for more than two years and his bloc is at 29%, according to an INSA survey published on 8 February.
They are followed by the AfD on 21% and Mr Scholz’s SPD on 16%, with the Greens on 12% and BSW on 6%.
Despite the rise in popularity of the AfD, they are unlikely to be involved in any coalition government as all the other parties have ruled out any cooperation with them. That could mean that coalition negotiations after the elections take more time, if the AfD does indeed win a sizeable number of seats on Sunday.
How are seats in the Bundestag allocated?
Germany’s system is a bit different to the UK’s Each voter casts two votes in the Bundestag (parliament) elections – one for a candidate in their constituency and one for a political party.
The 630 seats in the Bundestag are allocated to parties based on what proportion of second votes they received.
Once each party has been awarded a number of seats matching their national vote share, their candidates are ranked from the most to the fewest number of constituency votes received in a list and it’s from this that their new Bundestag members are chosen.
The new Bundestag then elects a chancellor by majority vote.
World
Up to a million Palestinians could be ‘permanently relocated’ to war-torn Libya under US plans
Up to a million Palestinians could be permanently relocated from devastated Gaza to war-torn Libya under plans being worked on by Donald Trump’s administration, NBC News reports.
The idea has been discussed with Libya’s leadership, sources told Sky’s US partner network, and would potentially see billions of dollars in frozen Libyan funds released.
The North African country remains divided in two – nearly 14 years after the overthrow of dictator Muammar Gaddafi sparked a civil war – with two rival governments fighting for control.
It comes as Israel continues a campaign of airstrikes on Gaza, with 93 people killed and hundreds injured on Friday, according to local medics.
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Sky’s team saw bodies arrive at Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital
No final agreement on any Libya plans have been reached, sources told NBC News, and US government agencies did not respond to requests for comment from the news outlet.
Previous suggestions to resettle Palestinians from Gaza – voluntarily or otherwise – have provoked international outcry, particularly from Arab states who likely will play a role in rebuilding the enclave after any permanent ceasefire deal.
And Libya is far from a safe nation, according to the US State Department’s own travel advice, which says Americans should not travel to the country “due to crime, terrorism, unexploded landmines, civil unrest, kidnapping, and armed conflict”.
President Trump, speaking on the final day of his Middle East trip, said he was looking to resolve a range of global crises, including Gaza.
“We’re looking at Gaza,” he said. “And we’ve got to get that taken care of. A lot of people are starving. A lot of people are – there’s a lot of bad things going on.”
An Israeli tank nears the border with Gaza. Pic: Reuters
There had been hopes that his tour of the region could increase the chances of a ceasefire deal or prompt Israel to lift its blockade of Gaza that is preventing humanitarian aid from getting in.
But instead Israel has continued to launch airstrikes on the territory, killing more than 250 people in the last two days, according to Hamas-run health authorities.
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The Israeli military, which had dropped leaflets on the northern town of Beit Lahia ordering residents to leave, said their airforce had struck more than 150 military targets across Gaza in recent days.
This week, Israel said it had bombed the European Hospital because it was home to an underground Hamas base, but Sky News analysis has cast doubt on its evidence.
Israeli officials said the latest strikes were a prelude to a larger military campaign in Gaza aimed at pressuring Hamas to release hostages.
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Trump wraps up Middle East tour
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Ahmed Abu Riziq, founder of the Gaza Great Minds Foundation, which seeks to give children access to education in Gaza, said “the hell doors opened” in the last few days.
Speaking to Sky News from Gaza City, he said: “Myself with my family, we had to flee today from some certain areas in northern Gaza City… people are running in the streets. They don’t know where to go or where to sleep at night. So it’s really catastrophic.”
“No food is entering Gaza,” he added, saying that people are dying from hunger.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this month that Israel plans to seize all of Gaza and hold it indefinitely.
Tom Fletcher, head of the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs, warned the Security Council this week it must “act now” to “prevent genocide” – a claim Israel vehemently denies.
Russia and Ukraine failed to agree to a ceasefire in their first direct talks since 2022 – as European leaders called Moscow’s approach “unacceptable” after the discussions lasted less than two hours and Vladimir Putin stayed away.
The meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, was set up at short notice on President Putin‘s behest, but he declined a challenge from Volodymyr Zelenskyy to meet him in person and instead sent relatively junior representatives.
A source in the Ukrainian team told Sky News that Russia had threatened “eternal war” during the talks.
They said the Russians were not ready to talk about technical details of a ceasefire and were waiting for superiors to approve them.
Latest updates on Istanbul talks
Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan chairs a meeting between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators in Istanbul. Pic: Reuters
Both countries said they had agreed to trade 1,000 prisoners of war each in what would be the biggest such exchange yet of the conflict.
But Kyiv wants the West to impose tighter sanctions unless Moscow accepts a proposal from Donald Trump for a 30-day ceasefire.
President Zelenskyy said after the meeting that he had spoken to Mr Trump by phone – alongside Sir Keir Starmer and the leaders of France, Germany and Poland – who all met in Albania on Friday.
In a post on X, he said Ukraine was “ready to take the fastest possible steps to bring real peace” and that “tough sanctions must follow” if Russia continues to resist a month-long truce.
The Ukrainian delegation. Pic: Reuters
The Russian delegation. Pic: Reuters
Frustration over Russia‘s perceived stalling in holding serious negotiations was also clear from the European leaders gathered in Tirana.
“The Russian position is clearly unacceptable, and not for the first time,” said Sir Keir.
“So as a result of that meeting with President Zelenskyy and that call with President Trump we are now closely aligning our responses and will continue to do so.”
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The talks were held in Dolmabache Palace in Istanbul. Pic: AP
The UK prime minister said the no-show by Russia’s leader was “more evidence that Putin is not serious about peace” and has “been dragging his heels”.
NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte, who was also in Albania, said President Putin had made a “big mistake” by sending low-level delegates to Istanbul.
A list of representatives ahead of the meeting listed presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, deputy foreign minister Galuzin Mikhail Yuryevich and deputy defence chief Alexander Fomin.
Ukraine’s delegation was led by defence minister Rustem Umerov.
President Zelenskyy had called the Russian team “a theatre prop” ahead of the summit in the Dolmabahce Palace.
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Ukrainian ‘despair’ over missing civilians
However, Turkey’s foreign minister heralded it as “an important day for world peace” and said Russia and Ukraine had agreed to swap 1,000 POWs each as a “confidence-building measure”.
Hakan Fidan shared a picture of the delegations and said they had “agreed to share with the other side in writing the conditions that would make it possible to reach a ceasefire”.
Russia’s Vladimir Medinsky said his team had “taken note” of the Ukrainian request for direct talks between Mr Putin and Mr Zelenskyy.
“We have agreed that each side will present its vision of a possible future ceasefire and spell it out in detail,” said Mr Medinsky.
Hopes ahead of the meeting were low after Mr Trump and his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, played down the prospect of meaningful progress.
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Trump on meeting Putin: ‘As soon as we can set it up’
The US president told reporters on Air Force One on Thursday “nothing’s going to happen until Putin and I get together”, while Mr Rubio said a “breakthrough” was unlikely until the US and Russian presidents meet.
No date for such a meeting has been proposed, but Mr Trump has said it will happen “as soon as we can set it up”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that top-level talks were “certainly needed” but arranging it would take time.
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Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov was a notable absentee, despite attending Ukraine-focused talks with the US in Saudi Arabia in February.
Russia has so far failed to agree to a 30-day unconditional ceasefire – proposed by European leaders who have threatened Moscow with “massive” sanctions if it doesn’t sign up. The US also supports the plan.
The Kremlin has ambitions to keep swathes of Ukrainian land as part of any long-term truce, an idea that Kyiv firmly rejects.
Russia also wants an end to Ukraine’s NATO ambitions and a promise it will stay neutral.
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