The CDU's stricter migration policy, backed by the far-right AfD, has sparked protests in Berlin and heightened political tensions in Germany before the parliamentary elections. View on euronews

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.

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.

CDU/CSU's passage of migration motion supported by AfD party has been widely condemned as a ‘dark day’ for German democracy - Anadolu Ajansı

Friedrich Merz, the leading candidate for the chancellery in Germany's upcoming election, said a leaked briefing by Germany's ambassador to the United States heavily criticising Donald Trump was damaging to the German government's reputation.

The incumbent government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, a Social Democrat (SPD), has styled itself as a champion of the rules-based international order and, in the case of Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, of an ethical, feminist foreign policy.

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.

With less than four weeks before Germany’s federal election, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his conservative challenger Friedrich Merz, who is leading polls, will take their contentious battle over how to crack down on illegal migration to parliament.

A non-binding motion to restrict immigration has sparked outrage after citizens said the conservative CDU/CSU broke a promise not to work with the far-right AfD. Protesters in Berlin gathered outside CDU headquarters.

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.

Angela Merkel criticized her successor, Friedrich Merz, for collaborating with the far-right in passing an immigration bill. This decision led to significant backlash, including protest actions and criticism from Holocaust survivor Albrecht Weinberg.