Germany election contenders make final pitches ahead of critical vote – National [Video]

The contenders in Germany’s election made their final appeals to voters Saturday, with opposition leader and front-runner Friedrich Merz vowing to revive the stagnant economy and defend Europe’s interests in the face of a confrontational U.S. administration.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz, meanwhile, insisted that he still hopes for an improbable last-minute comeback.

Germans are electing a new parliament Sunday after a campaign focused on the state of Europe’s biggest economy and calls to curb migration, while uncertainty has grown rapidly about the future of Ukraine and the strength of Europe’s alliance with the United States.

It appears to have done little to shift parties’ position in polls. They have consistently shown the center-right opposition, main challenger Merz’s Union bloc, in the lead. It’s ahead of the far-right, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany, which is on course for the strongest result for a far-right party since World War II, but has no other party willing to go into …