Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Wednesday (September 9) that Germany would continue supporting Ukraine because Ukraine was also defending Germany's freedom.

Merz was responding to criticism from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) that Germany's support was needlessly prolonging the war in Ukraine and shutting Germany out of accessing cheap energy supplies from Russia.

"The only thing that truly threatens Russia and Putin is the appeal of democracy,” Merz told parliament, adding "Ukraine was on its way to becoming part of the European democratic family. And that is precisely the real danger to Putin's regime in Russia.”

In his speech, Merz accused the AfD of supporting Russia against Germany's interests and advocating anti-migration policies that were tantamount to "ethnic cleansing”.

"One in six people employed in the skilled trades has a foreign passport,” Merz said.

"If those who work in Germany are forced to leave the country because ‘remigration' becomes your guiding principle, then the skilled trades in Germany will no longer function.”

Merz was addressing the parliament in the wake of his party's bruising defeat against the AfD, which surged to victory in an election in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt on an anti-immigration platform last weekend.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

1. GERMAN CHANCELLOR FRIEDRICH MERZ ARRIVING IN PLENARY HALL FOR BUNDESTAG (PARLIAMENT) DEBATE ON BUDGET, SHAKING HANDS WITH VARIOUS OF HIS GOVERNMENT MINISTERS

BERLIN, GERMANY (SEPTEMBER 9, 2026) (DEUTSCHER BUNDESTAG - Access all)

2. DEPUTIES RISING AS GONG SOUNDS TO MARK START OF SESSION

3. PARLIAMENT PRESIDENT JULIA KLOECKNER ARRIVING AND TAKING SEAT

4. KLOECKNER HANDING FLOOR TO MERZ

5. MERZ WALKING TO LECTERN AS APPLAUSE IS HEARD

6. (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR, FRIEDRICH MERZ, SAYING:

“We support Ukraine and we will continue to support it because it is also defending our freedom here in the heart of the European continent.”

7. APPLAUSE FOR MERZ IN PLENARY HALL

BERLIN, GERMANY (SEPTEMBER 9, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

8. TOP VIEW OF MERZ SPEAKING

BERLIN, GERMANY (SEPTEMBER 9, 2026) (DEUTSCHER BUNDESTAG - Access all)

9. (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR, FRIEDRICH MERZ, SAYING:

"The only thing that truly threatens Russia and Putin is the appeal of democracy. Ukraine was on its way to becoming part of the European democratic family. And that is precisely the real danger to Putin's regime in Russia.”

10. FAR-RIGHT OPPOSITION AFD DEPUTIES HECKLING MERZ AS HE STARTS SENTENCE

11. (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR, FRIEDRICH MERZ, SAYING:

"One in six people employed in the skilled trades has a foreign passport. If those who work in Germany are forced to leave the country because ‘remigration' becomes your guiding principle, ‘remigration,’ then the skilled trades in Germany will no longer function. Not a single care home will be able to operate, not a single hospital in Germany will be able to function, and not a single restaurant will be able to stay open. That would be the result of your (SPD, GREENS AND MERZ’S CDU DEPUTIES APPLAUDING / PLENARY HALL) remigration policy, ladies and gentlemen.”

12. KLOECKNER HANDING FLOOR TO FAR-RIGHT AFD CO-LEADER ALICE WEIDEL

13. WEIDEL WALKING TO LECTERN AS AFD DEPUTIES APPLAUD

14. (SOUNDBITE) (German) AFD CO-LEADER, ALICE WEIDEL, SAYING:

"You declare the migration crisis as over. Yet every year, a six-figure number of migrants enters the country through the asylum system while the equivalent of another major city arrives through family reunification, most of them from Muslim tribal cultures.”

BERLIN, GERMANY (SEPTEMBER 9, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

15. MERZ DRINKING WATER, WEIDEL SPEAKING IN FOREGROUND

BERLIN, GERMANY (SEPTEMBER 9, 2026) (DEUTSCHER BUNDESTAG - Access all)

16. (SOUNDBITE) (German) AFD CO-LEADER, ALICE WEIDEL, SAYING:

“And in Germany (LEFT PARTY, SPD AND GREENS SEATED) and in Germany, more than one million ‘refugees’ (gestures) whose asylum applications have been rejected, in some cases repeatedly, are living in Germany. Why are these people still in this country? They should be deported!”

17. APPLAUSE FROM AFD FOR WEIDEL

18. (SOUNDBITE) (German) AFD CO-LEADER, ALICE WEIDEL, SAYING:

"Mr. Merz, Germans are not too lazy to work more. (MERZ LOOKING ON) They see that hard work does not pay because an unfair tax system takes almost everything from them. Of every euro earned, only 46 cents remain. And that is robbery.”

19. APPLAUSE FROM AFD FOR WEIDEL