Conservative frontrunner Friedrich Merz suggested he’s a shoo-in to win Germany’s election on Sunday, telling Social Democrat Chancellor Olaf Scholz to his face that he’ll need a miracle to pull off a comeback victory.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his conservative rival Friedrich Merz faced off in a heated TV debate on Sunday, exactly two weeks before the country heads to the polls. Scholz attacked Merz - whose conservative CDU/CSU alliance is leading in the polls on around 30% ahead of the election on February 23 - over his decision last week to pass a motion on migration reform in parliament with votes from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

Friedrich Merz, the 69-year-old veteran German politician with a hardline stance on migration and an expensive aviation hobby, is the favorite to become the country’s next chancellor in the February 23 federal election.