Germany's four main chancellor candidates debated each other live on television on Sunday, one week before voters go to the polls. It is the first time that German voters will see four candidates on the debate stage, DW reports.
The snap federal election was called for February 23 after the current coalition government collapsed in November last year.
With just seven days to go, the right-wing opposition parties are leading the polls - Friedrich Merz's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) at around 30% and Alice Weidel's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) at around 20%.
Incumbent Chancellor Olaf Scholz's center-left Social Democrats (SPD) are currently polling in third place with 15%, while their coalition partners, Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck's Green Party, are coming in fourth with just over 13%.
During the debate, the candidates discussed their plans for the German economy and how they view Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Merz and Scholz criticized Vice President JD Vance for interfering in German politics after his speech at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, whereas Weidel, who met with the vice president at the sidelines of the event, called for good relations with the Trump administration.
Illegal migration was also a major topic discussed during the TV showdown.
The debate began at 20:15 local time (19:00 UTC) and finished two hours later.
