PHOTO COLLECTION: Germany Election

Friedrich Merz, CDU candidate for chancellor and CDU federal chairman,celebrates after his speech at the 37th federal party conference of the CDU in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Feb.3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Friedrich Merz, CDU candidate for chancellor and CDU federal chairman, centre, celebrates after his speech at the 37th federal party conference of the CDU in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Feb.3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

FILE – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz gestures as he receives applause after his speech during a special party convention in Berlin, Germany, Jan. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)

FiILE – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz waves after being nominated as top candidate for the upcoming national elections during a special party convention of the Social Democratic Party, SPD, in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)

Friedrich Merz, German opposition leader and chairman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, speaks during a session of the German parliament ‘Bundestag’ in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, left, and Friedrich Merz, CDU candidate for chancellor before a TV election debate in Berlin, Sunday Feb. 9, 2025. (Michael Kappeler /dpa via AP)

Friedrich Merz, CDU candidate for chancellor and CDU federal chairman, right, attends the 37th federal party conference of the CDU in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Feb.3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Friedrich Merz, CDU candidate for chancellor and CDU federal chairman speaks at the 37th federal party conference of the CDU in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Feb.3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Christian Unions parties floor leader and chancellor candidate, Friedrich Merz speaks during the last parliament session ahead of national’s elections, at the Bundestag parliament in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

German opposition leader and Christian Union parties floor leader Friedrich Merz speaks at the the beginning of a debate about migration at the German parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

CSU leader and Bavarian State Governor Markus Soeder, right, and Friedrich Merz, CDU candidate for chancellor and CDU federal chairman, pose at a party convention of the CSU in Nuremberg, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks during the last parliament session ahead of national’s elections, at the Bundestag parliament in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

German Chancellor and SPD top candidate Olaf Scholz gives a statement in front of the main factory of struggling steel producer thyssenkrupp ahead of the German federal Bundestag elections later this month in Duisburg, Germany, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, center, speaks with Social Democratic Party (SPD) Bundestag faction chairman Rolf Muetzenich, right, during a session of the German parliament ‘Bundestag’ in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, right, chats with German Economy and Climate Minister Robert Habeck during a session of the German parliament ‘Bundestag’ in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

An election poster showing AfD top candidate for Chancellor Alice Weidel is displayed in Oberreifenberg near Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Alice Weidel, top candidate of the Alternative for Germany, AfD, gestures after her speech at an election campaign in Heidenheim, Germany, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Alice Weidel, top candidate of the Alternative for Germany, AfD, gestures during her speech at an election campaign in Heidenheim, Germany, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Alice Weigel co-leader of the Alternative for Germany, AfD, party speaks during a debate about migration at the German parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Alice Weidel, top candidate of the Alternative for Germany, AfD, speaks during the last parliament session ahead of national’s elections, at the Bundestag parliament in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Leaders of the parliamentary group of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party Alice Weidel, right, and Bernd Baumann speak during a session of the German parliament ‘Bundestag’ in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Alternative for Germany, AfD, party leader Tino Chrupalla speaks during an election campaign in Heidenheim, Germany, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

The light of a spotlight falls on the face of Alice Weidel, top candidate of the Alternative for Germany, AfD, as she lifts blue roses after her speech at an election campaign in Heidenheim, Germany, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

People hold up their cell phones as they protest the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD party, and right-wing extremism in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

People gather to protest against the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD party, and right-wing extremism in Heidenheim, Germany, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

People gather to protest against the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD party, and right-wing extremism in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

People hold up their cell phones as they protest the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD party, and right-wing extremism in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

People gather to protest against the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD party, and right-wing extremism in Heidenheim, Germany, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

An election poster for the Liberal Democrats (FDP) with former finance minister Christian Lindner is seen beside a poster of the Social Democrats (SPD) with German chancellor Olaf Scholz, both concerning the economy at a street in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, ahead of the Bundestag federal elections in February, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

FDP top candidate and former finance minister Christian Lindner attends a protest rally during the Economic Warning Day, in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

An election campaign poster of Sahra Wagenknecht reading ‘Our country deserves more fairness’ stands on a road in Stendal, Germany, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Sahra Wagenknecht, Federal Chairwoman of the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), speaks during the last parliament session ahead of national’s elections, at the Bundestag parliament in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Sahra Wagenknecht, center, of the BSW party attends a debate about migration at the German parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

An election poster of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is fixed at lamp pole in Oberreifenberg near Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

From left, Olaf Scholz of the German Social Democratic party, Robert Habeck of the Green party, Friedrich Merz of the German Christian Democratic Union and Alice Weidel of the Alternative for Germany (AFD) party, take part in a tv discussion in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025 of the German top candidates for the German federal election on Feb. 23, 2025. (Kay Nietfeld/DPA via AP, Pool)

People attend a rally “Vote for love!” organised by the Christopher Street Day (CSD) movement for the Bundestag elections, in Frankfurt, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)