• About 68 million eligible voters in the Philippines are heading to the polls in mid-terms that will decide the fate of a long-running power struggle between the country’s two biggest political dynasties
• The senate races pit candidates backed by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr against those supported by Vice-President Sara Duterte, daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte
• If Marcos’ senate picks win more seats, it increases his chances of impeaching Sara Duterte for alleged misuse of state funds – this would bar her from seeking the presidency in 2028
• Also on the ballot are candidates for the 317-member Congress, hundreds of governors, mayors and city councillors
• Voting runs from 07:00 local time (00:00 BST; 23:00 GMT) to 19:00, with unofficial results expected soon after

Concerns of vote-buying and fraud resurface

Voting fraud has been a persistent issue in Philippine elections, with allegations of cheating surfacing at nearly every poll.

This election is no different. Over the weekend, the military intercepted 441 million Philippine pesos ($7.96m, £6m) in cash from 11 suspects at an airport – an incident they said “raised serious concerns about potential election-related illegal activities, including vote buying and money laundering”.

Several foreign nationals – six Chinese, one Malaysian, and one Kazakh – were involved in the case alongside two Filipinos, a military spokesperson said. This “strongly suggests the alarming possibility of foreign interference in our sovereign electoral process,” he added.

Earlier today, a video circulated widely on social media showing several people said to be poll watchers filling in ballots for elderly voters in the province of Abra. The alleged poll watchers have since been fired, according to reports.

Meanwhile, in the province of Camarines Sur, police have arrested eight people involved in various alleged vote-buying activities, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.

Cost of living among top concerns for Filipinos

Although much of the spotlight in this election is on the Marcos-Duterte feud, the cost of living remains one of the top concerns for Filipinos.

Official data suggests that the country’s inflation is slowing down. However, a survey conducted by Pulse Asia – one of the country’s most credible pollsters – shows that 69% of respondents consider the rising prices of goods to be their most pressing issue, according to GMA News.

Fighting corruption, combating criminality, and reducing poverty also rank high on voters’ list of concerns.

Meanwhile, another survey by OCTA Research Group found that inflation and the healthcare system are among the top priorities for voters in this election, according to news outlet PhilStar.

Race to Watch: Gen Z’s mayor in Pasig City

Vico Sotto is mayor of Pasig, one of the smaller cities in Metro Manila – but his constituency is far bigger. His Facebook following of two million is double the size of the city’s population.

The social-media savvy mayor was only in his twenties when he beat a political dynasty in 2019, promising honest and transparent governance.

And he delivered. Pasig is an aberration in Philippine politics: a city where the incumbent mayor does not have their name, photo or initials stamped on government projects and handouts to ingratiate themselves to voters.

In 2021, the US State Department cited Sotto as one of 12 global anti-corruption champions.

Beyond the accolades, he is well-loved online by millennials and Gen Z for his public service posts peppered with wisecracks. He is, after all, the son of one of the country’s most beloved TV and film comedians.

In this election, Sotto is running for his third and final three-year term, and is facing a serious challenger. This is one race the entire country will be watching.

Sara Duterte greets supporters at polling station

We’ve also received images of Vice President Sara Duterte casting her vote today as her political fate hangs in the balance. She was swarmed by supporters at the polling station in the Dutertes’ stronghold Davao City.

In February, she was impeached by lawmakers in the lower house of parliament. Whether or not her impeachment goes through hinges on the upcoming election – and the composition of the Senate thereafter.

Sara’s father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, is running for mayor in Davao City with her brother Sebastian as vice mayor.

But Rodrigo Duterte is conspicuously absent – he is being held at the Hague after he was arrested in March. He cannot be disqualified under Philippine law because he has not been convicted of any crime.

Earlier Sara Duterte said her father failed to cast his vote from The Hague, despite a last-minute appeal to Filipino authorities to allow him to do so.

The 80-year-old was told he was ineligible to vote online since he is not registered to cast his ballot as an expatriate, she said.

Three generations of Marcos family seen at the polls

As we reported earlier, the Marcos family, one of the country’s most powerful dynasties, showed up to vote at a polling station earlier today.

We now have more pictures of the family, which the Philippines’ presidential communications office released to the media.

Once associated with excess and corruption, the Marcoses have since rehabilitated their image, paving the way for Ferdinand Marcos Jr, also known as Bongbong Marcos, to win the presidency in 2022. He was seen holding up his finger stained with ink, a sign that he had just voted.

The clan’s matriarch, 95-year-old Imelda Marcos, was seen in a wheelchair. While she is known for her strong personality – earning her the nickname “Steel Butterfly” – she has also been known for her lavish lifestyle. Most famously, she left behind 3,000 pairs of shoes when the family fled the country in 1986, amid a public revolt against Ferdinand Marcos Sr’s authoritarian regime.

Sandro Marcos, 31, the eldest son of President Marcos, was seen whispering into his father’s ear. He has followed his father’s footsteps in politics, and in 2022 he won an election to become a district representative in Ilocos Norte, the family’s traditional stronghold.

What’s been happeningpublished

Good morning to our readers in the UK and Europe. If you’re just joining us, this is what we’ve been reporting on so far:

• Voting is underway across the Philippines. Polls opened at 07:00 local time (00:00 BST) and will close at 19:00 (12:00 BST)
• More than 18,000 positions are up for grabs across national and local government
• Tensions between the Marcos and Duterte political dynasties hang over the election
• The most-closely watched will be the 12 senate seats. The new composition of the 24-seat senate could have a big impact on the impeachment motion facing current vice-president, Sara Duterte
• The senate become jurors in an impeachment trial. A two thirds majority – at least 16 votes – are required
• But as our South East Asia Correspondent Jonathan Head writes: “Filipino senators have their own interests and ambitions; whatever their current allegiance, they will want to assess where public opinion lies before deciding which way to vote when the impeachment trial begins in the senate later this year.”

Sara Duterte sees ‘realistic’ chance of winning ‘more than two’ seats

Vice-President Sara Duterte says she has briefed her father, Rodrigo Duterte, on their chances in today’s senatorial elections.

Based on various polls, the vice-president says she had told her father it is “realistic” to expect “more than two” of their bets among the 12 winners.

“He told me, if that is the realistic view, let’s just leave the miracle up to God,” Sara tells reporters.

Two of Duterte’s close aides – Bong Go and Ronald dela Rosa – are among the senate race frontrunners. Both are up for re-election.

Go, Duterte’s longtime personal assistant, is seen as having a shot at the number one spot, a much coveted place in Philippine politics. Dela Rosa, who implemented the Duterte drug war as national police chief, is not far behind.

Most polls show a tight race for the 10th to 12th slots among a handful of candidates, including two candidates endorsed by Sara – Imee Marcos and Camille Villar.

Imee, President Bongbong Marcos’ sister, recently bolted from her brother’s alliance. Villar is from a prominent political family and was aligned with the Marcos family in the past, but has recently appeared in a campaign video with Sara Duterte.

Cardinals urge voters to ‘listen to the voice of the Lord’

Ahead of the election today, Catholic cardinals from the Philippines have urged voters to let the spirit of God guide their voting.

The Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan, Socrates Villegas, told voters to “listen to the voice of Our Lady, not to the voice of money”.

“Let us listen to the voice of the Lord, and not to the voice of lying, not to the voice of disinformation, not to the voice of fake news,” he said in a homily.

Meanwhile, Philippine cardinals who attended the papal conclave at the Vatican urged voters to view the election as a “sacred moment”.

Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, and Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle – who were both seen as potential contenders for the papacy – said the oath taken by electors in the conclave could also be used by Catholic voters in any election, reported Rappler., external

The oath is: “I call as my witness Christ the Lord, who will be my judge, that my vote is given to the one who, before God, I think should be elected.”

“This is also my message to candidates… let’s help each other have new models of leadership,” said Cardinal David.

With more than 80 million Catholics, the Philippines has the biggest Catholic population in Asia and the third-largest in the world.

Two killed in suspected election violence in Silay city

As Filipinos head to the polls, reports have been trickling in of suspected election-related violence.

Two people were killed and several injured in a shooting in Silay city, Negros Occidental on Monday morning. The victims were supporters of Silay Mayor Joedith Gallego, who is running for re-election today, authorities said.

In Davao Occidental, a child was injured by a stray bullet on Monday, the election commission chairman told reporters, though he did not say if the incident was related to the election. “We don’t know why they feel the need to fire their guns,” he said.

At least two political candidates have also been shot and killed leading up to election day, while four people were killed in Mindanao during a clash on Sunday.

As we reported earlier, such deaths around elections are not uncommon for the country, which has lax gun laws and a violent political culture.

New vote counting technology deployed for the first time

For more than a decade, the Philippines has used electronic voting machines to boost the speed and accuracy of vote counting.

This year, the country is switching its vote counting machine provider to Miru Systems, a South Korean polling company.

Last year the company was the lone bidder for a government contract worth 17.9bn Philippine pesos ($325m; £244m) to provide some 110,000 automated counting machines for the mid-term polls.

However, Miru has faced controversy in countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Iraq. Critics say the company’s technology is prone to hacking and fraud – claims that the company has denied.

Race to watch: Mayor of Manila

Manila is the capital city of the Philippines – not to be confused with Metro Manila, the capital region that is comprised of 16 cities, including Manila, and one municipality.

The city of Manila is is rich in history, and home to the presidential palace. Its leader is tasked with the upkeep of many of the country’s cultural treasures, as well as receiving VIP visitors from overseas.

This is where Isko Moreno wants to make a comeback. Moreno, a former teen heartthrob, was tipped to be a strong presidential candidate in 2022. But his rags-to-riches tale of garbage picker to mayor was no match against Marcos’ promise of a new golden age.

Moreno, who was Manila mayor from 2019 to 2022, has promised to “Make Manila Great Again”, borrowing the language of Donald Trump.

He is running against incumbent Honey Lacuna, a medical doctor and veteran politician who was his vice mayor.

Philippine senators play an intricate game of politics

With 12 of the 24 Senate seats up for grabs today, it’s important to note that the Philippines’ multi-party system is based less on principles and more on shifting loyalties among the political elite.

The president – who serves for six years and is not eligible for any re-election – wields considerable power under a system that is modelled on that of the US, the Philippines’ last colonial overseer.

Presidents have historically controlled the House, and depended on the national government to fund projects for their congressional districts.

They typically have less influence on the Senate, which decades of personality-based politics has turned into a bench for presidents- and vice presidents-in-waiting.

Senators, especially those with ambitions for higher office, play a very intricate game.

They don’t want to be out of the good graces of the presidential palace, which holds considerable power, yet don’t want to be seen as too subservient to the president.

With Canada’s businesses reeling from a trade dispute with the US, Carney – a former two-time central banker – is expected to pitch himself as the candidate best equipped to take on Donald Trump.

The 60-year-old political newcomer took over as leader of the Liberal Party after former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stepped down from his nine-year term.

The prime minister’s announcement to call an election and request the dissolution of Parliament will kick off a five-week campaign for Carney and his political opponents.

While the timing of the request to dissolve parliament is clear – the exact election date is not.

The prime minister is leaning towards setting April 28 as the voting date, the Globe and Mail and the Associated Press reported on Thursday, citing sources in the government.

Some suggest a shorter campaign could work in Carney’s favor, since much of the current national discourse revolves around the ongoing trade war between the US and Canada, particularly after President Trump’s threats and actions.

The election is “almost certain to focus on US President Donald Trump’s trade war and his talk of making Canada the 51st state”, The Globe and Mail wrote.

Carney has promised to uphold Canada’s reciprocal tariffs, if Trump maintains 25% universal tariffs on Canadian goods not covered by the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) trade deal.

Trump has vowed to impose a sweeping range of tariffs on 2 April on top of the 25% tariffs already imposed on Canada’s steel and aluminium.

The race will likely come down to a choice between Carney and Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre.

Before the threat of tariffs, Conservatives enjoyed a 20-point lead in some election polls. Now polls are indicating a much closer race.

When Canadians next go to the polls, the Liberals will face not only the Conservatives – who are the official opposition with 120 seats in the House of Commons – but also the Bloc Quebecois, who have 33 seats, and the New Democrats (NDP), who have 24.

Constitutional court judges will meet on Tuesday afternoon to discuss Georgescu’s appeal, and a final ruling should be issued the same day.

The BEC rejected his candidacy on Sunday after a 10-4 vote, saying it did not “meet the conditions of legality”, as Georgescu “violated the very obligation to defend democracy”.

Last year, the court annulled November’s first round of the vote – in which Georgescu came first – after intelligence revealed Russia had been involved in 800 TikTok accounts backing him.

In his appeal, Georgescu said that the “BEC exceeded its legal powers”. He also argued that the constitutional court’s decision on the November election should have no bearing on his candidacy for the upcoming vote in May.

In a social media post, Georgescu also called the ban a “direct blow to the heart of democracy worldwide”.

The electoral bureau’s decision sparked unrest in Bucharest on Sunday evening. Clashes broke out between police and Georgescu supporters who had gathered in their thousands outside the offices of the BEC.

The BBC saw at least one car turned over, and the windows of neighbouring bars smashed. At least four people were detained.

Georgescu put out a video on social media thanking the Romanian people but adding that “we should not give birth to violence or other forms of this kind compared to how it was last night. We are moving forward with great confidence for the future of this country”.

A few hundred demonstrators gathered in the city centre on Monday evening, many of them waving Romania’s national flag. There was no repeat of the clashes on Sunday night.

The crowd stood behind fences set up by police, chanting their anger at the constitutional court inside the giant building across the road.

“The court has to defend our democracy and our constitution. But they don’t do this,” Eugen told the BBC, arguing that the court’s election rulings have been politicised. “They lost their meaning.”

Around him, the crowd burst into regular chants of “Romania wake up”, “The Constitutional Court is Garbage!” and “Georgescu is our president!”.

Some voiced conspiracy theories about the Covid pandemic, like Georgescu does. One young man, his face covered “for security” was openly homophobic, saying that the far-right politician appealed to his own “conservative” and “orthodox” views.

Another group described themselves as “hooligans” and didn’t want to speak on camera.

The grievances were varied, but all talked of their disillusion with a ruling class they called corrupt and far from the people.

“They sold out our country. We have to send our kids abroad for work. We can’t be successful and have a family here. They destroyed that. But they can’t take our right to vote,” factory worker Elena told the BBC.

Like several people we spoke to, Elena did not vote for Calin Georgescu in the first round of presidential elections in November, which was later overturned. At that point, she had not heard of him.

But the controversy over the cancelled vote has propelled the far-right populist into the spotlight and increased his support.

Now the crowd want him reinstated as a candidate.

George Simion, an ally of Georgescu and the leader of the far-right opposition Alliance for Uniting Romanians (AUR), parliament’s second-largest party, said on Monday that Romania was in “the midst of a coup d’état”.

In a video on Sunday night, Simion called for “those who committed the coup to be skinned in public for what they did… Whether you like Calin Georgescu or not, he is the man Romanians voted for”.

The Romanian prosecutor general has opened a case against Simion for instigation of violence, and on Monday he rowed back on the comments, saying he was using a “metaphor”.

On 26 February, Georgescu was detained for questioning on his way to register as a candidate in the May election, prompting tens of thousands of Romanians to march on Bucharest’s streets in protest.

Georgescu – a fierce EU and Nato critic – came out of almost nowhere last year to lead the first round two weeks ago amid allegations of Russian interference. He has since seen some support from the Trump administration.

Last month, US Vice-President JD Vance accused Romania of annulling the elections based on the “flimsy suspicions” of Romanian intelligence and pressure from its neighbours.

And Trump adviser Elon Musk posted on X, saying: “How can a judge end democracy in Romania?”

Last year, Romania’s constitutional court annulled November’s first round of the vote – in which he came first – after intelligence revealed Russia had been involved in 800 TikTok accounts backing him.

The BEC rejected his candidacy on Sunday, saying it “doesn’t meet the conditions of legality”, as he “violated the very obligation to defend democracy”.

Georgescu called that decision a “direct blow” to democracy. He now has 24 hours from Sunday’s verdict to submit an official appeal to the top court, which should issue a ruling within 72 hours.

In a social media post, Georgescu called the ban a “direct blow to the heart of democracy worldwide”.

Tear gas was fired at supporters of the presidential hopeful as violence broke out between them and police while they gathered in their thousandsoutside the offices of the BEC in the capital Bucharest.

The BBC saw at least one car turned over, and the windows of neighbouring bars smashed. At least four people were detained.

While many protesters left the scene, several hundred people remained and continued to fight with riot police, who brought in reinforcements and attempted to cordon off the area.

On 26 February, Georgescu was arrested on his way to register as a candidate in the summer election, prompting tens of thousands of Romanians to march on Bucharest’s streets in protest.

He was charged with attempting to overthrow constitutional order and membership of a neo-fascist organisation. He has denied all wrongdoing.

The 62-year-old independent came from nowhere to win the first round of last year’s election, the results of which were annulled just days before the second round of voting.

One key to his sudden popularity was his promise to “restore Romania’s dignity” and end subservience to the international organisations it belongs to, including Nato and the EU.

Before last year’s annulment, the pro-Russian politician told the BBC he would end all support for Ukraine if he was elected.

Georgescu has also seen some support from the Trump administration.

Last month, US Vice-President JD Vance accused Romania of annulling the elections based on the “flimsy suspicions” of Romanian intelligence and pressure from its neighbours.

Meanwhile, Romanian Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu accused Elon Musk of a “form of interference” in Romania’s elections, after the billionaire posted several messages of support for Georgescu.

US President Donald Trump’s repeated interest in acquiring Greenland has put it firmly in the spotlight and fuelled the longstanding debate on the island’s future ties with Copenhagen.

“There’s never been a spotlight like this on Greenland before,” says Nauja Bianco, a Danish-Greenlandic policy expert on the Arctic.

Greenland has been controlled by Denmark – nearly 3,000km (1,860 miles) away – for about 300 years. It governs its own domestic affairs, but decisions on foreign and defence policy are made in Copenhagen.

Now, five out of six parties on the ballot favour Greenland’s independence from Denmark, differing only on how quickly that should come about.

The debate over independence has been “put on steroids by Trump”, says Masaana Egede, editor of Greenlandic newspaper Sermitsiaq.

The island’s strategic location and untapped mineral resources have caught the US president’s eye. He first floated the idea of buying Greenland back during his first term in 2019.

Since taking office again in January, he has reiterated his intention to acquire the territory. Greenland and Denmark’s leaders have repeatedly rebuffed his demands.

Addressing the US Congress last week, however, Trump again doubled down. “We need Greenland for national security. One way or the other we’re gonna get it,” he said, prompting applause and laughter from a number of politicians, including Vice-President JD Vance.

In Nuuk, his words struck a nerve with politicians who were quick to condemn them. “We deserve to be treated with respect and I don’t think the American president has done that lately since he took office,” Prime Minister Mute Egede said.

Still, the US interest has stoked calls for Greenland to break away from Denmark, with much of the debate focused on when – not if – the process of independence should begin.

Greenland’s independence goal is not new, Nauja Bianco points out, and has been decades in the making.

A string of revelations about past mistreatment of Inuit people by the Danes have hurt Greenlandic public opinion about Denmark. Earlier this year, PM Egede said the territory should free itself from “the shackles of colonialism”.

But it is the first time the subject has taken centre stage in an election.

Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA), the party of Prime Minister Mute Egede, favours gradual steps towards autonomy. “Citizens must feel secure,” he told local media.

Arctic expert Martin Breum says Egede’s handling of the challenge from Trump and strong words against Denmark over past colonial wrongdoings “will give him a lot of votes”.

Smaller rivals could also gain ground and potentially shake up alliances.

Opposition party Naleraq wants to immediately kick-off divorce proceedings from Copenhagen and have closer defence dealings with Washington.

Pointing to Greenland’s EU departure and Brexit, party leader Pele Broberg has said that Greenland could be “out of the Danish kingdom in three years”.

Naleraq is fielding the largest number of candidates and has gained momentum by riding the wave of discontent with Denmark.

“Naleraq will also be a larger factor too in parliament,” predicts Mr Breum, who says party candidates have performed well on TV and on social media.

However, the centre-right Demokraatit party believes it is too soon to push for independence.

“The economy will have to be much stronger than it is today,” party candidate Justus Hansen told Reuters.

Greenland’s economy is driven by fishing, and government spending relies on annual subsidies from Denmark.

Friedrich Merz, the 69-year-old conservative leader, is in pole position to become Germany’s next chancellor, in a vote closely watched in Europe and the US.

He promises to fix most problems in four years – a tall order for Europe’s biggest economy and a creaking infrastructure.

If Merz’s Christian Democrats (CDU) win, he will need to forge an alliance with at least one other party, most likely Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats, whose government collapsed late last year.

On the eve of the vote, Merz was adamant there would be no deal with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is poised to become the second biggest political force, ahead of Scholz’s centre-left party.

Some 59.2 million Germans are eligible to vote, and while millions already have by post, polls indicate as many as 20% were undecided ahead of election day.

The polls close at 18:00 (17:00 GMT) with a clear idea of a result likely to emerge during the evening.

Voters are energised by this pivotal election, and campaigning continued right through Saturday evening with a final debate on national TV – the ninth this month.

This is a watershed moment as Germany will have to make big decisions on the world stage as well as at home.

Merz promises strong leadership in Europe, but Berlin is also under pressure to loosen the budget strings for its military.

As Ukraine’s second-biggest provider of military aid, Germany’s next government will face a US president who has condemned President Volodymyr Zelensky as a dictator and fractured the West’s united front against Russia.

German political leaders have also been shocked by US Vice-President JD Vance, who has met the AfD’s candidate for chancellor, Alice Weidel, and called for an end to the long-standing taboo of talking to the far-right.

In Germany, that taboo is known as a firewall or brandmauer.

Merz was accused of breaking it last month when he used their support in parliament. There were protests against the far-right in several German cities on Saturday.

The AfD is already popular in several eastern states, but is rapidly growing in the west too, attracting support among younger Germans via TikTok.

One Weidel campaign video has had four million views.

Her message is simple: Vote AfD, break the firewall and change German politics.

But its voice has been loudest on migration and security after five deadly attacks since last May, including three during the election campaign in Magdeburg, Aschaffenburg and Munich – all allegedly carried out by immigrants.

A stabbing at Berlin’s Holocaust memorial on Friday night has kept the issue in the headlines. The victim survived, and police said the attacker was Syrian and his motive antisemitic.

The AfD has embraced a highly controversial policy called “remigration”, which it defines as deporting migrants who have committed crimes. But the term can also refer to the mass deportation of migrants and their descendants.

The anti-immigration party has already secured a foothold in parts of the west, especially in Germany’s old industrial heartland in the Ruhr valley.

In last summer’s European elections it won the vote in some northern areas of the city of Duisburg, with 20% in Marxloh, 25% in an adjacent area and 30% next door to that.

Marxloh is a vibrant district with a large immigrant community, known for its array of shops selling Turkish fashionwear for brides.

But it has also suffered extensively from the decline of the coal and steel industry and a lack of government investment.

In a park close to Marxloh’s remaining steelworks, five young men in their early 20s explained why they all planned to vote AfD.

“We’re young, we need work and they don’t give us a chance to find training,” one man complained.

“We’ve no money; everything’s more expensive; there aren’t many jobs any more and there’s so much dirt here.”

The AfD is not known for its social policies, but its message on security cuts through, and this group does not see the anti-immigration party as extreme.

“No, they’re just normal people.”

In the east, it is in the rural areas where the AfD does best, but in the west it is growing in cities that have lost their industrial base, says Prof Conrad Ziller of the University of Duisburg-Essen.

“Voices of people in favour of the AfD have become so loud, so if you’re in a doctor’s waiting room it’s really common to hear people chat about getting angry about the established politicians and government.”

Migration is the most common frustration, and he believes Weidel has capitalised on that by appearing so prominently in all the TV debates.

Often when the debate touched on the economy, social justice or inequality, Prof Ziller said “the AfD deflected it and said the main problem is not economics, it’s migration, and the government didn’t do a good job”.

While the opinion polls have been consistent about who is leading the race, some of the parties might not make it over the 5% threshold for the newly slimmed-down parliament.

If fewer parties make it into the 630-seat Bundestag, it will be more straightforward to form a coalition with a majority.

The economic liberals, the Free Democratic Party (FDP), were in the outgoing government but risk oblivion on Sunday along with left-wing populist party BSW.

The Left party, however, has seen a resurgence in recent days and pollsters suggest it will become the fifth largest party after the Greens.

Friedrich Merz, the 69-year-old conservative leader, is in pole-position to become Germany’s next chancellor, in a vote closely watched in Europe and the US.

He promises to fix most problems in four years – a tall order for Europe’s biggest economy and a creaking infrastructure.

If Merz’s Christian Democrats (CDU) win, he will need to forge an alliance with at least one other party, most likely Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats, whose government collapsed late last year.

On the eve of the vote, Merz was adamant there would be no deal with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is poised to become the second biggest political force, ahead of Scholz’s centre left.

Some 59.2 million Germans are eligible to vote, and while millions already have by post, polls indicate as many 20% were undecided ahead of election day.

The polls open at 08:00 (07:00 GMT) and close at 18:00, with a clear idea of a result during the evening.

Voters are energised by this pivotal election, and campaigning continued right through Saturday evening with a final debate on national TV – the ninth this month.

This is a watershed moment as Germany will have to make big decisions on the world stage as well as home.

Merz promises strong leadership in Europe, but Berlin is also under pressure to loosen the budget strings for its military.

As Ukraine’s second-biggest provider of military aid, Germany’s next new government will face a US president who has condemned President Volodymyr Zelensky as a dictator and fractured the West’s united front against Russia.

German political leaders have also been shocked by US Vice-President JD Vance, who has met the AfD’s candidate for chancellor, Alice Weidel, and called for an end to the long-standing taboo of talking to the far right.

In Germany, that taboo is known as a firewall or brandmauer.

Merz was accused of breaking it last month when he used their support in parliament. Several German cities saw protests against the far-right on Saturday.

The AfD is already popular in several eastern states, but it is rapidly growing in the west too, attracting support among younger Germans via TikTok.

One Weidel campaign video has had four million views.

Her message is simple: Vote AfD, break the firewall and change German politics.

The AfD wants to leave the EU, scrap climate change measures, build nuclear power plants and repair gas lines and relations with Russia.

But its voice has been loudest on migration and security after five deadly attacks since last May, including three during the election campaign in Magdeburg, Aschaffenburg and Munich – and all allegedly carried out by immigrants.

A stabbing at Berlin’s Holocaust memorial on Friday night has kept the issue in the headlines. The victim survived, and police said the attacker was Syrian and his motive antisemitic.

The AfD has embraced a highly controversial policy called “remigration”, which it defines as deporting migrants who have committed crimes. But the term can also refer to the mass deportations of migrants and their descendants.

The anti-immigration party has already secured a foothold in parts of the west, especially in Germany’s old industrial heartland in the Ruhr valley.

In last summer’s European elections it won the vote in some northern areas of the city of Duisburg, with 20% in Marxloh, 25% in an adjacent area and 30% next door to that.

Marxloh is a vibrant district with a large immigrant community, known for its array of shops selling Turkish fashionwear for brides.

But it has also suffered extensively from the decline of the coal and steel industry and a lack of government investment.

In a park close to Marxloh’s remaining steelworks, five young men in their early 20s explained why they all planned to vote AfD.

“We’re young, we need work and they don’t give us a chance to find training,” one man complained.

“We’ve no money; everything’s more expensive; there aren’t many jobs any more and there’s so much dirt here.”

The AfD are not known for their social policies, but their message on security cuts through, and this group does not see the anti-immigration party as extreme.

“No, they’re just normal people.”

In the east it is the rural areas that the AfD does best, but in the west it is growing in cities that have lost their industrial base, says Prof Conrad Ziller of the University of Duisburg-Essen.

“Voices of people in favour of the AfD have become so loud, so if you’re in a doctor’s waiting room it’s really common to hear people chat about getting angry about the established politicians and government.”

Migration is the most common frustration, and he believes Weidel has capitalised on that by appearing so prominently in all the TV debates.

Often when the debate touched on the economy, social justice or inequality, Prof Ziller said “the AfD deflected it and said the main problem is not economics, it’s migration, and the government didn’t do a good job”.

While the opinion polls have been consistent about who is leading the race, some of the parties might not make it over the 5% threshold for the newly slimmed-down parliament.

The fewer parties that make it into the the 630-seat Bundestag, the more straightforward it will be to form a coalition with a majority.

The economic liberals, the Free Democratic Party (FDP), were in the outgoing government but they risk oblivion on Sunday along with left-wing populist party BSW.

The Left party, however, has seen a resurgence in recent days and pollsters suggest it will become the fifth largest party after the Greens.

Conservative frontrunner Friedrich Merz told supporters that under his leadership, Germany would take responsibility in Europe, and that the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) would be consigned to the political margins once more.

He will end his Christian Democrat party’s campaign with a rally in Munich, while his rivals will make a final appeal in a TV “speed-dating” programme with voters.

For months German politics has been paralysed by the collapse of the previous government.

Now, hopes have been raised across Europe that this vote will bring some certainty to the EU’s biggest democracy and its biggest economy, which has struggled to escape from lingering recession.

Nothing will change overnight. No party can govern without forming a coalition, and that will take weeks.

Reviving the economy has been one of the two big issues of the campaign; the other has been migration and security, thrust on Germany’s politicians by a series of deadly attacks since May 2024.

The cities of Mannheim, Solingen, Magdeburg, Aschaffenburg and Munich have all suffered grievous attacks. A Spanish tourist was stabbed at the Holocaust memorial in the centre of Berlin on Friday night, although his wounds are not considered life-threatening.

All the alleged attackers were immigrants, and the AfD under Alice Weidel has advanced to about 20% in the polls with its nationalist, anti-immigration message.

She has appealed to younger voters on social media, and is far ahead in the race on TikTok, with 870,000 followers. She has also been buoyed by support from both billionaire Elon Musk and US Vice-President JD Vance, who has been accused of meddling in the German campaign.

The AfD talks of securing Germany’s borders and deporting migrants who came illegally and committed crimes. But she uses the word “remigration” which has also been linked to mass deportations.

In Solingen, where a Syrian was accused of stabbing to death three people last August, hundreds of people turned out on Friday night to speak out against the rise of the far right.

“We have a lot of friends who grew up in Germany whose parents did not,” said one woman called Natalie, 35. “We don’t want anybody to kick them out and we don’t want our borders closed.”

One man called Jochen held up a sign that read “Never Again is Now!”

There was a large police presence at the protest, and Friday night’s stabbing in Berlin has heightened security fears.

A police union spokesman has warned of a risk of attacks aimed at destabilising democracy.

All the mainstream parties have ruled out working with the AfD in government, but if it polls higher than 20% it could double its number of seats to 150 in the 630-seat parliament.

Merz’s most likely partner is Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats, although probably without Scholz himself. The message from his centre-left SPD as the final day of campaigning began was that every vote counts, and if Germans wanted a strong government they needed a strong SPD.

The Social Democrats are languishing in third in the polls, but Scholz is pinning his hopes on an estimated one in five undecided voters who could make a big difference.

Friedrich Merz was in a relaxed and confident mood when he appeared on stage this week in front of 1,200 supporters in the tech-hub city of Darmstadt near Frankfurt. But his message was stark as he turned his thoughts to Donald Trump’s presidency.

One hand in his pocket and the other holding the microphone, he spoke of unprecedented times and a “tectonic shift in the world’s centres of power”.

“A political order is now crumbling. What we have become used to for decades is breaking down.” He was not even sure if the US would join Germany in celebrating the 70th year of its accession to Nato in the summer.

He castigated the outgoing government for failing to take a leading role on the international stage.

“The German government and chancellor must finally take on a leading role in Europe again. If I’m elected I will spend a significant part of my time keeping this European Union together.”

Germans have had almost nightly opportunities to see their political leaders thrash out the big issues in TV debates, and Alice Weidel has been in the thick of them, sharing the stage with both Merz and Scholz.

In the run-up to the vote she met Vice-President JD Vance, who castigated German politicians for raising a “firewall” against the far right and of ignoring “the will of the voters”.

That firewall – brandmauer in German – has held strong since the end of the war, although Merz himself was accused of breaking it when he relied on the support of the AfD last month in a motion on migration.

He has faced demonstrations ever since, and there was a noisy protest when he visited Darmstadt.

PhD student Annika, 29, held a Herz statt Merz banner – love instead of Merz. “He says he won’t do something with the far-right AfD, but his actions contradict what he says. I don’t trust him at all.”

Merz appears to have been stung by the outcry and has sought to reassure voters there will be “no tolerance, no minority government [with the AfD], nothing at all”.

Kurti’s ruling Vetevendosje party has about 41% of the votes with 88% counted. He gained 50% in 2021.

He said he was confident he would be able to form a government, adding: “We are the [winners] and this is confirmation of a good, prosperous and democratic government.”

There was a delay in announcing the official results due to the failure of the Central Election Commission’s counting system.

President Vjosa Osmani has called on the commission to “protect the integrity of the electoral process, ensuring that every vote is counted correctly”.

The commission blamed the delay on “technical issues”, but the editor of the media group Koha said the president should sack the commission’s chair.

Besnik Krasniqi said the failure of the system for preliminary results was “intolerable”.

The centre-left Vetevendosje party is expected to secure more than 40 seats in the 120-member parliament.

The Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) is polling 22%, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) is on 18%, and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) has 8%. These are the only parties which passed the 5% threshold to gain seats in parliament.

Kurti came to power in 2021 when a coalition run by his party secured a small majority with over 50% of the vote.

Before any results were officially declared Kurti said: “Our coalition will form our third government.

“It will continue the work. The people won, Vetevendosje won.”

Kurti’s popularity has been boosted by efforts to extend government control over the ethnic-Serb majority north.

But that has antagonised Kosovo’s main backers – the EU and the US. Opposition parties advocate a more conciliatory approach, and have criticised the government’s handling of the economy.

The centre-right LDK has campaigned on joining Nato, and restoring relations with the US. The PDK, also centre-right, was founded by former guerrilla fighters of the Kosovo Liberation Army.

“We are proud of the campaign and the election day. We await the results, but already we have reason to be optimistic,” said Vlora Citaku, deputy PDK leader.

Meanwhile, AAK leader Ramush Haradinaj, a former prime minister of the country, said he was “looking forward to co-operating on the creation of an opposition government” to prevent Kurti’s return to power.

Under Kosovo’s constitution, 10 MPs must come from the Serb minority, and they will not co-operate with Kurti’s party.

The remaining 10 seats are reserved for other minority ethnic groups, which have previously worked with Vetevendosje, which translates as “self-determination”.

Kurti has previously said he would not co-operate with any of the opposition parties.

Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in February 2008, after years of strained relations between its Serb and mainly ethnic Albanian inhabitants.

It has been recognised by the US and most major EU countries, but Serbia, backed by its powerful ally Russia, refuses to do so, as do most ethnic Serbs inside Kosovo.

On Saturday, while its conference was under way in the eastern city of Riesa, in Saxony, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) laid out ambitions to close Germany’s borders, resume buying Russian gas and, in effect, dismantle the EU.

German media reported that party’s agreed manifesto includes plans to quit the Paris climate deal, exit the Euro currency and create a new confederation of states.

The AfD’s leader, Alice Weidel, even publicly embraced the term “remigration” – a word that’s widely understood to mean the mass “return” or deportation of people with a migrant background.

Thousands of anti-AfD protestors swarmed the streets in Riesa on Saturday, seeking to obstruct access to the conference venue.

When Alice Weidel eventually took to the stage, she described the activists outside as a “left-wing mob.”

And, in front a delighted conference hall of delegates, spoke of “large-scale repatriations”.

“And I have to be honest with you: if it’s going to be called remigration, then that’s what it’s going to be: remigration,” she said.

It’s a striking departure from just a year ago when she sought to distance herself from a scandal that centred on the highly controversial concept.

There were nationwide anti-AfD demonstrations after it emerged that senior party figures had been among those at a meeting where “remigration” was allegedly discussed with Martin Sellner, an Austrian far-right activist who has a neo-Nazi past.

Sellner has written about “remigrating” asylum seekers, some foreigners with residency rights and “non-assimilated” citizens.

A buzzword in Europe’s far-right, some claim legal residents wouldn’t be forced to leave. Critics say “remigration” is simply a euphemism for an overtly racist mass deportation plan.

But Alice Weidel’s decision to personally coin the term, weeks out from a snap federal election, demonstrates her party’s growing radicalism and confidence.

She also pledged to tear down wind farms which she called “windmills of shame”, leave the EU’s asylum system and “throw out” gender studies professors.

The AfD is consistently polling second in Germany and made gains in recent regional elections in the country’s east – where the party is strongest.

However, it’s highly unlikely to win power because other parties won’t work with the AfD.

Sections of the AfD have been classed by domestic intelligence as right-wing extremist.

In 2024, a talisman of the AfD’s hard-right – Björn Höcke – was fined twice for using a banned Nazi SA paramilitary phrase, “Alles für Deutschland” (“everything for Germany”).

He’s called it an “everyday sentence” and denied being aware of its origins, despite formerly being a history teacher.

Reports that members of the conference in Riesa this weekend chanted “Alice für Deutschland” drew quick comparisons in German media.

However, AfD figures have frequently complained that they are demonised and persecuted by a biased media and establishment.

And Alice Weidel’s party – of which she is the co-leader and now Chancellor candidate – has ridden out repeated storms to now hover around or even above 20% in national polls.

The 45-year-old economist, who previously worked for Goldman Sachs and is in a same-sex relationship, has sought to polish the rougher edges of her party.

But for those strongly opposed to the AfD she is a fig leaf or – as one Social Democrat put it – a “wolf in sheep’s clothing”.

Regardless, she’s enjoying a new spotlight after being invited by tech billionaire – Elon Musk – for a live talk on his X platform last week, where he wholeheartedly endorsed the party.

Her declaration during this discussion that Adolf Hitler was, in fact, a communist sparked condemnation, given the Nazi leader’s well-known anti-communism.

Critics warned of Nazi revisionism – something the AfD has been accused of before.

Björn Höcke once called for a “180-degree turnaround” in Germany’s handling of its Nazi past while a former co-leader, Alexander Gauland, described the Nazi era as “just a speck of bird’s muck in more than 1,000 years of successful Germany history”.

Nevertheless, the AfD’s anti-establishment, anti-immigration and anti-“woke” agenda is finding followers in Germany who go to the polls on 23 February.