German election frontrunner could open door to cooperation on migration

25/1/2025 6:11

German opposition leader Friedrich Merz said he would seek to pass a disputed migration measure in parliament next week with any party willing to back

it, a move critics say could break the firewall with the far right weeks before a federal election.



Merz, chancellor candidate for the two allied conservative parties (CDU/CSU) who are leading polls ahead of the election on Feb. 23, has long ruled out forming a coalition with the nationalist Alternative for Germany (AfD), deeming them too extreme.



He has, however, shifted the conservatives' stance on migration ever farther to the right in recent years so that it increasingly resembles the AfD's, in what analysts say is a bid to win back voters from the anti-immigration party.