Scholz and Merz discuss economy, migrants, and aid to Ukraine in their first debate
Olaf Scholz and Friedrich Merz in televised debates (photo: screenshot from tagesschau.de)
The first televised debate ahead of the federal elections in Germany took place between incumbent Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and the CDU/CSU alliance candidate Friedrich Merz. Key discussions focused on asylum policy and economic issues, as well as support for Ukraine, reports Tagesschau.
The debate between Scholz and Merz lasted an hour and a half and took place in a calm atmosphere.
According to German commentators, during the televised duel, Scholz rarely attacked, while Merz made few mistakes.
Scholz and Merz talk about migration, asylum, and the economy
Regarding migration, the incumbent chancellor stated that the government had rejected 40,000 applications. Additionally, in 2024, illegal migration decreased by 34%. The SPD's leading candidate also noted that since becoming chancellor, his government had increased the number of deportations by 70%.
As Mark Feuser from ARD Capital Studio commented to Tagesschau, even on such a controversial topic as migration, neither Scholz nor Merz offered any new answers.
Economic development was one of the main topics of the debate. The lead candidate from the CDU/CSU alliance claimed that Germany experienced a wave of bankruptcies unprecedented in the last 15 years. According to Merz, 50,000 companies went bankrupt during Scholz's term, with almost half of them filing for bankruptcy last year alone.
Discussion of Germany's aid to Ukraine
Speaking about Germany's aid to Ukraine, the chancellor noted that Germany is Ukraine's biggest supporter in Europe and will remain so. Scholz stated that the German government has assisted Ukraine amounting to nearly 44 billion euros since Russia's full-scale invasion.
He added that the aid has been used for air defense, winter support programs, humanitarian and energy sectors, demining, investigating war crimes, and supporting Ukrainian refugees.
"According to the Ukraine Support Tracker by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), Scholz's statement is accurate in many aspects but not complete. In absolute terms, Germany ranks first in Europe for bilateral aid, having provided nearly 16 billion euros to Ukraine. The US leads globally, with support totaling 88 billion euros," Tagesschau reports.
At the same time, German media points out that in terms of financial aid, Germany ranks only fifth, and when calculated as a percentage of GDP, Germany is only in 17th place with approximately 0.4% of its GDP.
During the debates, Merz reiterated his call for Germany to supply Ukraine with long-range TAURUS missiles, a move opposed by the current German government.
Polling data published yesterday by Insa for the Bild am Sonntag newspaper shows that leading parties in Germany are losing support ahead of the elections. This includes Friedrich Merz's CDU/CSU alliance (leading with 29% support), Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats (16%), and the Greens led by Economy Minister Robert Habeck (12%).
Parliamentary elections in Germany will take place on February 23. Recently, the CDU/CSU candidate for chancellor, Friedrich Merz, stated that if elected, he would not cooperate with the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD).
