German Bets Go Head-To-Head In Last Debate With 3 Days To Go

With three days to go until Germany's elections, the candidates took part in a final televised debate on Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021, focusing on differences in foreign and security policy, Robin Powell reported for Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).

Photo Insert: A biker passes by campaign posters of Germany's chancellor bets.

After three previous debates that featured only the three top candidates for chancellor - from the CDU/CSU, the SPD, and the Greens - all parties currently represented in the Bundestag took part in the final round.

The Social Democrats' (SPD) candidate, Olaf Scholz, pledged to increase defense spending for the German army on Thursday and added that the most important foreign policy goal would be a strong, sovereign Europe.

The topic of China also came up, with the pro-business Free Democrats' (FDP) Christian Lindner saying that "we have to represent our interests and our values equally," while the Green Party's Annalena Baerbock called for "a common European China policy."

With a Thursday poll showing a dramatic drop in the number of undecided voters, the pressure was on for outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives as they attempt to catch up with the SPD.

In a YouGov survey, 74 percent said they had made a final decision on who they will vote for, 15 percent said they would make a final choice later, 9 percent did not specify and 1 percent said they didn't know. Earlier surveys indicated that a third or even as many as 40 percent of voters were undecided - a point emphasized this week by candidates including the Greens' Annalena Baerbock.

Although her party has slumped to a distant third, according to the polls, Baerbock is still hoping for a record result for the Greens.

In a recent ZDF Politbarometer poll, the CDU/CSU conservative bloc slightly narrowed the gap with the SPD, coming to 23 percent, though the SPD retained its lead, remaining unchanged at 25 percent.

The Greens came in third at 16.5 percent, while the FDP were at 11, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) received 10, and the far-left Die Linke party hit 6.

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