Friedrich Merz, the centre-right CDU party leader and favourite to be Germany's next chancellor after elections next month, has called for a "fundamental" overhaul of asylum rules after a stabbing this week that killed a toddler and a man.
The identity of the main suspect in the knife attack, a 28-year-old Afghan man who slipped through the fingers of authorities, has reignited a stormy debate in Germany over immigration.
Merz reportedly told a meeting of the CDU's top brass on Thursday he would submit motions to the Bundestag in the coming week to tighten migration rules "regardless of who votes for them" -- in effect accepting the AfD's backing.
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AfD co-leader Alice Weidel posted on X that "the firewall has fallen".
The "firewall" refers to a long-hold taboo in German politics, whereby mainstream parties rule out any kind of cooperation with the far-right party.
"The CDU and CSU have accepted my offer to vote together with the AfD in the Bundestag on the fateful issue of migration," Weidel said.
The CSU is the smaller Bavarian sister party of the CDU, with the two forming an alliance at national polls.
But other parties swiftly rounded on the conservatives, with the general secretary of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), Matthias Miersch, telling the Spiegel weekly that cooperating with the AfD would send a "fatal signal".
Such a move would be the "beginning of a collaboration" with the far right, said the politician from Chancellor Olaf Scholz's party, adding that the CDU/CSU should "clarify the situation clearly".
Robert Habeck, the leader of the Greens, called on Merz to "keep his word" not to work with the AfD.
Habeck, who also serves as Germany's vice chancellor, however told the Funke media group he was "afraid that Friedrich Merz is about to do just that".
Scholz's coalition between his SPD, the Greens and the liberal FDP collapsed in November, paving the way for the February 23 polls.
Merz's CDU/CSU alliance is currently ahead in the polls ahead of the national vote with around 30 percent of support.
The AfD sits in second on around 20 percent, while Scholz's Social Democrats are on 16-17 percent across different voter surveys.
Even with such a result, the AfD would be unlikely to enter government after the election, as all parties still rule out a formal coalition with the far right.
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