Chancellor Friedrich Merz made several claims during his interview with public broadcaster ARD on August 30, 2026, regarding migration, debt, and electric vehicles that were found to be misleading. DW Fact Check, in collaboration with the ARD fact-checking network, reviewed these claims live.
Claim: "One of the main issues in the last federal election campaign was the migration crisis, and together with the federal government, we've been able to reduce the numbers by over 60% in just over a year."
This statement is misleading for several reasons. The number of asylum-seekers in Germany has decreased, but not to the extent claimed by Merz. According to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), 56,547 asylum applications were filed in the first half of 2026, including 39,646 first-time applications. This represents a 35.4% decrease in first-time applications compared to the same period last year, significantly less than the figure cited by Merz. Comparing the second half of 2025 and the first half of 2026 with the same period the previous year, initial asylum applications fell from 169,671 to 91,546, a decrease of 46%.
In July 2026, initial asylum applications totaled 4,311, which was approximately 48% lower than in July 2025. A decline of nearly 60% was recorded only once in August 2025 compared to August 2024. Furthermore, the downward trend in asylum-seeker numbers began before the Merz government took office in May 2025, following the fall of Syrian leader Bashar Assad in December 2024. At the European level, asylum applications also fell in the first half of 2025.
Official statistics indicate a decline in general migration as well. The Federal Statistical Office reported that around 235,000 more people immigrated to Germany in 2025 than emigrated, resulting in net immigration being 45% lower than the previous year's figure of 430,000. This decline is primarily due to fewer arrivals, while departures remained stable.
Claim: "We are still one of the least indebted countries in Europe. We are still a country that has by far the best credit rating of any European nation. No one doubts the debt sustainability of our country or our economy; we are operating within reasonable limits here."
There are three key metrics to assess the debt levels of EU countries: debt-to-GDP ratio, deficit spending, and credit rating. Germany's debt-to-GDP ratio is above the eurozone limit of 60%, placing it in the middle of the eurozone rankings. Regarding government deficits, Germany's net borrowing is at 2.7%, just below the eurozone limit of 3%. In terms of credit rating, Germany holds the highest marks, sharing this rating with several other countries.
In 2009, Germany implemented a "debt brake" in its constitution to limit deficits to 0.35% of GDP, but this restriction was suspended during the COVID pandemic and again in 2022 and 2025 for increased defense spending.
Claim: "At the European level, the issue with internal combustion engines has nothing to do with CO2 emissions. We want climate-friendly and climate-neutral cars, but we don't want to dictate the technology — it's not up to politicians to decide that. What matters is how much CO2 such a car emits, and the CO2 balance of electric mobility isn't as rosy as it's often portrayed."
According to the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), battery electric vehicles produce, on average, 73% less CO2 emissions than internal combustion engine vehicles. While battery electric vehicles do have about 40% higher production emissions, these are typically offset after one or two years of driving.
Merz's comments may have been influenced by a recent paper from the Technical University of Munich, which claimed that battery electric vehicles reduce CO2 emissions by only 41% compared to traditional cars. However, this paper's methodology has been criticized for including older studies with outdated electricity mixes. The ICCT analysis, by contrast, uses more current data. Overall, there is a scientific consensus that electric vehicles are more environmentally friendly than traditional cars.