Friedrich Merz, Germany's conservative CDU leader and candidate for chancellorship, receives votes and applause from the far-right AfD party in the Bundestag –

When the CDU motions passed on Wednesday evening, by four votes, an eerie silence hung for a moment over the Bundestag chamber. Then AfD parliamentarians began applauding what they see as the first chink of light in the CDU’s so-called “firewall” against political co-operation with them.

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.

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

Altkanzlerin Angela Merkel hat sich in den Wahlkampf eingemischt und ihren christdemokratischen Parteifreund Friedrich Merz kritisiert, der im Bundestag mit den Stimmen der AfD eine strikte Migrationspolitik durchsetzen will.

Conservative frontrunner Friedrich Merz of the Christian Democrats has reaffirmed his principled rejection of cooperation with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), despite Wednesday's joint approval of a Bundestag motion on migration policy.

Tucking into beer and pretzels, the frontrunner to become Germany's next chancellor, conservative millionaire Friedrich Merz ... soon after to the Bundestag, where his mentor was the CDU's late powerbroker Wolfgang Schaeuble. Merz lost a leadership ...

Friedrich Merz’s high-stakes gamble to enlist the far right in pressuring the German government to tighten migration laws has upended the campaign three weeks before general elections.

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.

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

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.