Feb 4, 2025 · Germany's conservative chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz explicitly distanced himself and his party from the far-right AfD, after sparking outrage over his cooperation with the AfD last...

Jan 31, 2025 · Opposition leader and front-runner Friedrich Merz has put demands for a more restrictive approach to migration at the center of his campaign for the Feb. 23 election since a deadly knife attack last week by a rejected asylum-seeker.

Jan 31, 2025 · BERLIN — Friedrich Merz, the conservative frontrunner to become Germany’s next chancellor, suffered a major political defeat on Friday as his controversial immigration bill backed by the far right was rejected in the Bundestag, with some members of his own party refusing to support the measure.

16 hours ago · On the latter, Scholz accused Merz anew of “irresponsible gambling” and breaking a taboo when he brought a nonbinding motion calling for many more migrants to be turned back at Germany’s borders to parliament, which approved it by a narrow majority thanks to AfD’s votes — a first in postwar Germany.

Feb 3, 2025 · Merz, determined to prove his party’s commitment to a tougher approach to migration, rejects the criticism. He says his position is unchanged and that he didn’t and won’t work with Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is in second place in recent polls.

17 hours ago · They were greeted, as is increasingly the case for Mr. Merz these days, by protesters. Since Mr. Merz broke the taboo of working with the Alternative for Germany, or AfD, parts of which are ...

Jan 29, 2025 · Germany’s conservatives have introduced plans for tougher migration measures, with votes from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party potentially giving their leader, Friedrich Merz, the parliamentary majority he needs to sharply reduce migration.

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...

Jan 27, 2025 · The opening by Friedrich Merz, the leader of the center-right Christian Democrats, who leads in the polls for the chancellor election next month, came after a knife attack last week in Bavaria by...

2 days ago · Skip next section Merz questions why Germany's recovery is slow by EU standards. 02/09/2025 February 9, 2025 ... and the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD).