Polls open in pivotal parliamentary elections in Germany

According to all polls, the center-right CDU/CSU opposition is favored to win, while a strong showing of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and consequently an unprecedented result for a far-right party since World War II is also expected.

Germany is the most populous country in the 27-nation European Union and a leading member of NATO. It has been Ukraine's second-biggest weapons supplier, after the U.S. It will be central to shaping the continent's response to the challenges of the coming years, including the Trump administration's confrontational foreign and trade policy.

The top candidates, conservative front-runner Friedrich Merz and current Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the Social Democrats, voted within minutes of each other in different parts of the country on Sunday morning.

More than 59 million people in the nation of 84 million are eligible to elect the 630 members of the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, who will take their seats under the glass dome of Berlin's landmark Reichstag building.

Germany's electoral system rarely produces absolute majorities, and no party looks anywhere near one this time. It's expected that two or more parties will form a coalition, following potentially difficult negotiations that will take weeks or even months before the Bundestag elects the next chancellor.

This election is taking place seven months before it was originally planned after center-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition collapsed in November, three years into a term that was increasingly marred by infighting.

In all, four candidates are competing for the top chancellor job, with Scholz of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Merz joined by Robert Habeck of the Greens party and far-right Alice Weidel of the AfD.

According to the most recent polls, the CDU is expected to win the election as they lead the race with a projection of about 30% support. They're followed by the AfD who've made a dramatic comeback in the German political scene and are projected to win around 20%.

The SPD and Greens party are trailing, with Scholz projected to secure around 16% of the vote and current Vice Chancellor Habeck at around 13%.

Campaigning continued on Saturday as candidates competing for the top chancellor job look to sway undecided voters in their favour.

Olaf Scholz’s SPD held a rally in the city of Potsdam where he addressed supporters and expressed opinions on key contentious issues.

US President Donald Trump has been a major point of focus this election as his controversial foreign policy threatens to alienate Europe from the global stage and break down the rules-based international system.

Germany plays a big role in shaping the European Union’s response to the threat across the Atlantic, and German voters are want to ensure their country and continental security and status are not diminished.

“We need a strong European Union, otherwise we will not be able to cope with many new powers in a world of so many billions of people,” said Scholz at his final campaign rally.

The German leader, whose governing coalition collapsed leading to this snap election, says the most challenging issue facing Germany in the coming weeks and months is the relationship with the United States, particularly in the area of trade.

Trump has threatened or implemented tariffs on a number of countries since returning to the White House last month. He’s recently also implemented a ‘reciprocal tariff’ policy which would see Washington imposing equal tariffs on all countries, allies and adversaries alike, who tax American products.

Trump’s threats have extended to the EU, as he argues that the relationship between Washington and Brussels is “completely unfair”, with the EU importing less products from the US than it exports. Scholz says any tariffs imposed on them would result in countermeasures that would equally inflict economic pain on the US.

“We can respond to any tariff with our own tariff in practically no time at all and can decide whether we think it's right or not, because we have a larger economy as the European Union when taken as a whole, than the USA.”

Scholz closed his event urging Germans to vote for his SPD party to ensure a strong mandate in Germany so Germans don’t “get angry afterwards about how everything is going”.

The CDU’s Friedrich Merz, who’s projected to win 30% of the votes also held a final campaign event in the southern city of Munich.

Speaking to supporters there, Merz says this election will be the most attention attracting election in Germany history.

“There will be so many journalists from all over the world in Berlin like never before. This federal election will attract a lot of attention like never before. Because the world might ask more intensely outside of Europe and especially within Europe: What will Germany do?,”

“Which course will this Federal Republic of Germany take now and within the next years? Now it is again all about fundamental decisions for our country and that is why we are ready to take over responsibility for our country,” Merz continued.

Merz says due to recent political geopolitical developments, the elections in Germany have enjoyed prominence and are therefore expected to feature high voter turnouts. In an effort to assure voters, he pledged to deliver a “clear government relationship” as well as a change in politics.

The CDU leader also noted that if he’s elected, he’ll make restoring Germany’s status on the world stage a priority.

“I am expecting a change of government. That the world takes us seriously again. And that we have clear security and clear justice and therefore we don't have to move to the right.”

Protests against the rise of the right

Protests took place in some German cities the night before the election.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets in the city of Erfurt to demonstrate against a shift to the right in German society. Police say some 4,000 people responded to the call of the “Auf die Plätze Erfurt” (On your marks, Erfurt) alliance.

Protesters marched through the city centre to Domplatz, where AfD Thuringia was holding its own final election campaign event. Police say around 1,100 people gathered for the AfD rally.

The alliance had been organising protests against the extreme right in Erfurt for several years. The Thuringian AfD is classified and monitored by the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a proven right-wing extremist organisation.

Anti-immigration protests

Around 150 far-right demonstrators held a protest of their own in the capital, Berlin, on Saturday. Protesters were demanding an end to the country’s current immigration policy.

They were confronted several times by leftist counter-protesters, who blocked the marching route wherever they could.

A large contingent of police kept the two opposing sides from clashing with each other.

German voters will go to the polls on Sunday morning to elect a new parliament that will determine how the country is run for the next four years.

Europe’s biggest economy is the 27-nation European Union’s most populous nation and a leading member of the NATO defence alliance. It’s also the second biggest weapons supplier to Ukraine after the United States.

The country’s next government will be central to Brussels’ response to an assertive new US administration that is increasingly critical of their decades long allies in Europe.

This article has been updated with the opening of the polls. For up-to-the-minute information go to our live blog.