Don’t mention the war: in Germany, politicians are hiding the truth about defence spending | Paul Taylor

By centring the discourse on immigration, MPs have handed support to the far right - and hidden a ticking economic timebomb from voters

The candidates to lead Germany's next government are avoiding telling voters painful truths before Sunday's crucial general election about Russia's war in Ukraine, the coming disengagement of the US from Europe and the huge defence funding that is needed. Instead, the debate has largely focused on how to revive the ailing German economy after two years of recession and how to control migration, which has fuelled support for the far-right Alternative fur Deutschland.

The conservative CDU/CSU leader, Friedrich Merz, has swerved speaking about the need for massive borrowing to pay for a surge in defence spending because many of his supporters oppose extra debt. The Social Democratic (SPD) chancellor, Olaf Scholz, is dodging discussion of sending German troops to Ukraine as part of a possible European security force if a ceasefire agreement is reached because part of his political base is either anti-militarist or Russia-friendly. After an emergency European summit on Ukraine in Paris on Monday, an irritable Scholz said talk of boots on the ground was highly inappropriate".

Paul Taylor is a senior visiting fellow at the European Policy Centre