Conservatives have cooperated with the far-right AfD for the first time, amid growing support from the tech billionaire.

A who's who of German talent signed an open letter calling for political leaders to "uphold democratic values" after a historic vote in the Bundestag that saw anti-immigration proposal pass with the support of the far-right.

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.

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.

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.

The CDU party chief, who leads in the polls to become the next chancellor, said he would collect votes from all parties to push his five-point migration plan through parliament despite Chancellor Olaf Scholz's strong opposition.

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

Friedrich Merz, the frontrunner to become chancellor in February's election, is making waves by agreeing to work with the far-right AfD on immigration rules.

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

Former chancellor’s intervention exposes deep rift within country’s conservatives over how to handle the far right’s rising influence.