The former chancellor’s intervention exposes a deepening rift within Germany’s conservatives over how to handle the AfD’s rising influence.

Germany’s likely next chancellor wants tougher migration measures even with AfD support, triggering a fierce pre-election debate.

The conservative CDU/CSU party is hardening its stance on irregular immigration. Others in Europe have already paved the way.

The front-runner to be Germany's next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has faced criticism for accepting support from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. View on euronews

The German Bundestag passed Friedrich Merz's so-called five-point migration plan — which promised a dramatic tightening of the country's migration and asylum law — through parliament. MPs narrowly voted in favour of turning away asylum seekers and other migrants back at Germany's borders — despite criticism that this could break both German and EU asylum law.

Comparing Friedrich Merz to Viktor Orban is more of a compliment than an insult, State Secretary Zoltan Kovacs wrote.

Social Democrat Scholz warns that Merz's proposal for permanent border controls would violate EU law, damage the economy, and threaten stability - Anadolu Ajansı

Context: Brussels is “reviewing” its probes into tech groups including Apple, Meta and Google, launched under its landmark digital markets rules. Trump said he considered fines imposed by the EU on US tech companies operating there as a “form of taxation”, and has vowed to retaliate.

Opening the door to leaning on support from the far-right is a gamble for Merz, who believes that his increasingly radical stance on migration will win back right-wingers who are tempted to vote for the AfD. But in so doing, he could risk losing support from the centre.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz's main challenger in Germany's upcoming election plans to put proposals for a tougher migration policy to parliament.

Opposition leader Friedrich Merz, leading in the race to become Germany's next chancellor, pledged on Monday to bring a law on restoring border controls before parliament this week even if it needed to be passed with far-right support.

R ARELY HAS the Bundestag known such drama. On January 29th, to scenes of uproar in Germany’s parliament, a tiny majority of mps approved a radical five-point plan to curb irreg