German election: Parties face off over Ukraine, NATO, Trump

The parties also gave their takes on the climate crisis and how the country should approach energy policy. 

In regards to increasing energy costs in Germany, the Left Party's Jan van Aken said: "Not protecting the climate is costing us much more money." 

Van Aken claimed that the top 10% of society consumes 14 times as much energy as the average German citizen. Van Aken wants to tax the rich more to finance climate initiatives.  

The CDU's Linnemann criticized a heating law backed by the now fractured German governing coalition of the SPD, FDP and Greens, labeling it a "fiasco." The law slowly replaces heating systems in German houses with those that consume mostly renewable energy.  

The CDU has criticized the heating law as being negative for people who own homes in Germany. Linnemann and the CDU seek to repeal the legislation. 

The FDP's Christian Lindner said he was against a ban on gas and oil heating, and said the government has to be open to technology as part of its energy policy. "We need a new realism in climate and energy policy," Lindner asserted.

The AfD's Alice Weidel criticized Germany's energy policy under former CDU Chancellor Angela Merkelwho stepped down in 2021. However, Weidel did not discuss her concrete approach to climate change.  

As Germany grapples with Russia's invasion of Ukraine on one end and a NATO-skeptical Donald Trump on the other, one idea under discussion is a return to compulsory military service. Mandatory conscription in Germany was abolished in 2011. 

A draft law approved last year by SPD Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government asked young men to answer about their readiness to serve in the German military, also known as the Bundeswehr. 

The Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party of the CDU, has called for a return to mandatory conscription.

On the debate stage on Thursday, the AfD's Weidel said a return to conscription is necessary, as Germany is "no longer capable of national defense."

The BSW's Wagenknecht rejected the idea of mandatory military service, saying this is the realm of a professional army. 

Carsten Linnemann, the general secretary of the CDU who was present at the debate, said he envisions an "obligatory social year." Under this proposal, Linnemann said Germans can choose whether they want to go into the army or contribute to society in other ways, such as joining the fire department or getting involved in civil protection.     

The FDP's Christian Lindner said he sees mandatory conscription as negative for the economy, as it takes young people out of the employment market.

The claim: Sahra Wagenknecht, the candidate for the leftist, anti-migration Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), said: "We currently have defense budgets in Europe, only of the European NATO states, which together are higher than the entire Russian national budget."

The facts: According to NATO figures from 2025, the total military expenditure of European NATO countries and Canada was $429.3 billion (€408.9 billion) in 2023.

Russia's national budget for 2025 was passed in November 2024. According to media reports, the expenditure will amount to the equivalent of roughly $430 billion — almost €12 billion higher than the planned revenue. 

Another topic of the debate was the state of Germany's health system.

The party members were asked whether they believe private health insurance should be abolished in Germany. They raised cards with either "yes" or "no" in response to the question.

Most people in Germany are on public health insurance provided by non-profit "sickness funds" or Krankenkassen. Those considered high-earners who make above a certain amount have the option to change to private insurance.

The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), Left Party, SPD and Greens are for the abolition of private health insurance. The FDP, CDU and the AfD are against the idea.

Christian Lindner of the FDP said there should be more competition between insurance companies.

The AfD's Weidel blamed migrants for not paying into the health insurance system. One of the moderators countered Weidel, and mentioned that many migrants contribute to Germany's healthcare system, such as working as nurses or caregivers.  

The SPD's representative at the debate, Matthias Miersch, said he wants patients who have mandatory public insurance to be treated the same, when it comes to medical appointments, as those who have private insurance. 

Sahra Wagenknecht of the BSW believes that the motivation for profit is the root of all evil in the German healthcare system.

"Health should not be left to the market, not to profit," Wagenknecht said.   

Claim: "Peace can only be secured through Ukraine. Through whom else? There's an 800,000-strong army there, they have to keep the peace," said Alexander Dobrindt, the leader of the conservative Christian Social Union's (CSU) parliamentary party.

The facts: In 2024, Ukraine had around 900,000 active soldiers, according to the Global Firepower Index.

In comparison, Russia's troop strength was around 1.32 million active forces.

Ukraine additionally has 1.2 million reserve forces and 100,000 paramilitary units, according to the same source.

Claim: Jan van Aken, chairperson of Germany's Left Party, said "the problem with NATO is that it is not a community of values. The EU is a community of values. NATO is actually an association of countries that uses military means to enforce selfish power interests."

The facts: NATO sees itself as both a defense alliance and a community of values. According to the German government, which is a member of NATO, the organization “sees itself as a community of shared values among free democratic states. Under the North Atlantic Treaty, members commit to peace, democracy, freedom and the rule of law."

The debate kicked off with a discussion on Germany's debt brake, the country's expenditures on defense and Ukraine. 

Germany is under pressure to raise its investments in defense amid pressure from US President Donald Trump, who is urging European members of NATO to spend more. However, the German government is constitutionally limited in its ability to take on new debt. 

Far-right AfD Chancellor candidate Alice Weidel criticized conservative Christian Democratic Union Chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz, who was not present at the debate. She was critical of Merz's push to send long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine, due to the risk of a "spiral of escalation" with Russia. 

Weidel praised US President Donald Trump's push to end the war. 

Annalena Baerbock, a member of the Greens who currently serves as foreign minister, criticized Weidel, who has a residence in Switzerland. Baerbock emphasized that she lives in the state of Brandenburg in Germany, and that Ukraine's security could impact neighboring Poland, which is close to Brandenburg.  

Left Party candidate Jan Van Aken was asked if it would be beneficial for Europe if Trump takes the US out of NATO. Van Aken said in the "long term" it would be better, drawing a retort from Free Democratic Party candidate Christian Lindner, who called such a statement "irresponsible."

Germany's election has been dominated by the topic of immigration. politicians for the CDU and AfD have campaigned on tougher immigration policy, while sharply criticizing Olaf Scholz's government for not having the issue under control. 

Permanent controls at the Schengen borders. The denial of entry to people seeking asylum at the German border if they have already traveled through another EU country. Detention of those who have been told they have to leave the country.

Those are just some of the measures that chancellor frontrunner Friedrich Merz has said he would support.

Read more: How a change in German leadership could shape EU immigration

Germany's Ruhr area used to be a stronghold for Social Democrats, but the populist AfD has risen to popularity amid the region's economic decline.

Learn more about how the residents of the city of Gelsenkirchen are resisting the trend: Germany's poorest city tries to counter rise of AfD

Germany's Vice Chancellor and Greens chancellor candidate Robert Habeck said his party would not join a government that pledges to reverse the EU ban on new carbon-emitting vehicles by 2035. 

"Fossil-fuelled vehicles must be phased out of new registrations after 2035, otherwise...theclimate protection targets cannot be met," Habeck told German broadcasters RTL/ntv.

"And, of course, we won't go into a government where we can't meet the climate protection targets," Habeck added.

The remarks could shift the Greens further away from a possible coalition with the CDU, which currently leads in the polls.

CDU leader Friedrich Merz has pledged to revisit the EU-wide ban. The CDU's Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), flatly rejected Habeck's comment.

CSU leader Markus Söder said in a post on X that it was "clear" to his party that reversing the ban "must be in the coalition agreement."

He called the Greens "car enemies" and said he was opposed to any coalition with the party.

The leader and chancellor candidate of the center-right CDU, Friedrich Merz, has been a target of Russian misinformation on social media, Reuters news agency reported, citing researchers working with Germany's Robert Bosch Foundation.

They describe a network of more than 700 fake social media accounts that appeared in the last week of the election campaign to promote pro-Russian narratives and demonize Merz, who is the current frontrunner.

Researchers said the bot network is disseminating anti-conservative, anti-war messages with AI-generated pictures of Merz.

Other posts paint Merz as a puppet of the US and link him to the migration wave of 2015, which happened under previous conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Several posts portray Germany as stuck in a spiral of economic decline and argue that this decline can only be halted if the country starts buying Russian gas again.

The identity of the users on the platform X who created the posts is unclear, researchers said, noting that most of the accounts were created in December and made bland, apolitical posts before switching to anti-Merz messaging a week ago. 

"These and similar disinformation campaigns are known to the Information Security Office," Germany cybersecurity watchdog BSI said about the misinformation campaign.

Seven main parties are competing for seats in the Bundestag on Sunday's election, covering a wide range of the German political spectrum. All in all, there are three right-leaning parties and four left-leaning parties.

Learn more about their origins and what they stand for: Germany's political parties — what you need to know

With just three days to go until German voters elect a new government, DW is keeping track of the main stories on the campaign trail as well as answering your most pressing questions.

Top politicians from Germany's eight largest political parties will meet for a televised debate about the country's future late Thursday evening as voters prepare to cast ballots in early parliamentary elections this Sunday.

Public broadcaster ARD/ZDF will carry the event, which it has billed "The Final Round," beginning at 10 p.m. (2100 GMT).  

Chancellor candidates Christian Lindner (FDP), Alice Weidel (AfD) and Sahra Wagenkncht (BSW) will take part in the Thursday evening discussion, alongside leaders from the CDU/CSU, SPD, Left and the Greens, represented by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. 

Weidel's far-right Alternative for Germany is currently polling second overall at just over 20%, while Baerbock and the Greens are in fourth at 13%.

Friedrich Merz leading the bloc of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party (CSU) continues to top pre-election polling with just under 30% of the vote. Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his ruling Social Democrats (SPD) remain in third with 15.5%.