Friedrich Merz, the front-runner to become Germany’s next chancellor, relied on votes from the far-right AfD to push an anti-migration motion through parliament.

Polls show conservative leader Friedrich Merz’s Union leading ahead of the Feb. 23 election with around 30% support, while AfD is second with about 20%.

The CDU's stricter migration policy, backed by the far-right AfD, has sparked protests in Berlin and heightened political tensions in Germany before the parliamentary elections. View on euronews

Angela Merkel criticized her successor, Friedrich Merz, for collaborating with the far-right in passing an immigration bill. This decision led to significant backlash, including protest actions and criticism from Holocaust survivor Albrecht Weinberg.

BERLIN — With Germany’s election less than a month away, center-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz has thrown cold water on the prospect of reviving the country’s traditional grand coalition — bluntly declaring that he “can’t trust” conservative leader Friedrich Merz anymore.

Alternative for Germany helped push an immigration restriction proposal over the threshold, breaking the "firewall" surrounding the right-wing party.

The conservative leader wants to impose strict border controls after knife killings in Aschaffenburg this week.

On Wednesday, with the support of the Alternative for Germany, the Christian Democrats passed a motion on migration policy through the Bundestag which abrogates fundamental constitutional principles and European law.

CDU/CSU's passage of migration motion supported by AfD party has been widely condemned as a ‘dark day’ for German democracy - Anadolu Ajansı

Conservatives have cooperated with the far-right AfD for the first time, amid growing support from the tech billionaire.

Friedrich Merz’s hard-line shift on migration is a calculated gambit by the German conservative leader to neutralize the far right and deliver a breakthrough with wavering voters, according to people familiar with his thinking.

Friedrich Merz, the leading candidate for the chancellery in Germany's upcoming election, said a leaked briefing by Germany's ambassador to the United States heavily criticising Donald Trump