1 day ago · Merz wants to pile pressure on the governing parties but has drawn accusations, which he rejects, that he’s breaking a consensus to shun the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD. Merz’s nonbinding motion calling for tougher migration policies passed by 348 votes to 345, with 10 abstentions, after a combination of opposition parties ...

1 day ago · Germany’s conservatives are leading the polls with 30 percent — putting Merz, the leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), in pole position to become the next chancellor — and the AfD is in second place with 20 percent. Merz’s party has sought to push back against the perception that it’s collaborating openly with the AfD.

1 day ago · Merz's conservative CDU/CSU bloc has introduced two motions on Wednesday which include turning away all asylum-seekers at Germany's borders and withdrawing German citizenship from dual nationals ...

19 hours ago · “Merz is trying to contain the AfD by appealing to these voters tempted by the AfD,” Armin Steinbach, professor at HEC Paris, said. But Merz’s move could backfire, analysts say.

3 days ago · The AfD is currently running second in polls before the election, sitting comfortably ahead of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats, though well behind Mr. Merz’s Christian Democrats. Image

2 days ago · Verschärfungen in der Asylpolitik AfD kündigt Zustimmung für Merz-Vorhaben an Stand: 28.01.2025 19:09 Uhr Die AfD kündigt an, die von der Union geplanten Anträge zur Migration mitzutragen.

6 days ago · That potentially leaves Merz open to accusations of breaking longstanding pledges not to work directly or indirectly with the far-right and anti-immigration Alternative for Germany, or AfD. The party is polling strongly and has long called on the Union to abandon the “firewall” that it and other mainstream parties have vowed to maintain ...

6 days ago · The firewall around the AfD has shown cracks in recent years — particularly in the far right strongholds of eastern Germany. In 2020, Merz’s center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the liberal Free Democrats voted together with the AfD in the eastern German state of Thuringia to oust the state’s left-wing premier. The move ...

Jan 24, 2025 · Merz, the favorite to become Germany's next chancellor, has repeatedly ruled out cooperating with the AfD, which sits in second place in polls ahead of elections on February 23.

Sep 6, 2024 · Friedrich Merz, the leader of Germany's center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), said there was no way his party would work with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) after the...