German election frontrunner risks breaking taboo on working with far-right

Berlin: The man tipped to win Germany's election next month is set to propose plans on Wednesday to restrict migration that could pass with the help of votes from the Alternative for Germany (AfD), potentially breaking a taboo on cooperation with the far-right.

Friedrich Merz, the leader of Germany's CDU/CSU conservative bloc which is leading polls ahead of the Feb 23 vote, is keen to seize the initiative on migration policy, which has shifted sharply back into focus after an Afghan asylum seeker was arrested over deadly stabbings last week.

The opposition leader has said he will present on Wednesday two motions in parliament calling for heightened security measures and the closure of German land borders to irregular migration. Critics say the latter measure is incompatible with European law.

With Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens opposed to the motions, however, Merz will have to rely on support of the AfD, among other smaller parties, to pass them - and has explicitly welcomed the support of any party.

Critics including Scholz argue that this shatters the taboo among mainstream parties of working with the AfD, a party which is monitored by German security services on suspicion of being right-wing extremist, in an effort to keep it from power.

They also accuse Merz of breaking his word. As recently as November, Merz suggested to mainstream parties that no proposals would be put to the Bundestag lower house of parliament which required AfD support for approval.

FIREWALL BREACHED?

Merz in turn has accused the SPD and Greens of blocking what he calls a necessary turnaround in asylum policy after the arrival in recent years of millions of asylum seekers fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Ukraine.

Merz still rules out a coalition with the AfD, which opinion polls put in second place behind the conservatives. But by weakening the so-called firewall around the party, analysts say, he risks legitimising the AfD while scaring off centrist conservative voters.

Support for the CDU/CSU dropped three points in the days after Merz promised a migration crackdown to 28 per cent, according to a survey by pollster Forsa published on Tuesday. Scholz's SPD gained two points to 17 per cent as did the AfD, to 21 per cent.

While Wednesday's motions are symbolically important but non-binding, Merz has also said he will present a draft law on curbing migration for a vote in the Bundestag on Friday.