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.

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.

CDU leader Friedrich Merz may need support in the Bundestag from the AfD, a move that has attracted wide condemnation.

Chancellor Scholz says rival Merz joining forces with far-right party in parliament to introduce stricter migration legislation ahead of Feb. 23 elections - Anadolu Ajansı

Germany’s parliament has narrowly approved a call by Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s main challenger to turn back many more migrants at the country’s borders, with the help of a far-right party.

Germany’s opposition leader says his party will bring motions to toughen migration policy to parliament next week in one of its last sessions before the country’s election

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.

Election posters at a street in Duesseldorf, Germany, show the top candidates for chancellor, Robert Habeck of the Green Party, Friedrich Merz of the CDU and Olaf Scholz for the SPD, from left, prior the German federal Bundestag elections in February,

Shugaban gwamnatin Jamus kuma dan takarar jam'iyyar SPD a zaben gabanin wa'adi, ya caccaki abokin hamyyarsa na CDU mai adawa Friedrich Merz, kan manufofinsa na kulla kawance da jam'iyyar masu kyamar baki ta AfD.

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel criticized Friedrich Merz, her successor as leader of the country’s conservatives, on Thursday for pushing through a bill on tighter immigration control with the help of the far right.

German Holocaust survivor Eva Umlauf appealed in an open letter on Thursday to conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz not to align his centre-right CDU/CSU bloc with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) to pass legislation.