The front-runner in the German election runs the risk of being involved with the far-right

The candidate who is predicted to win Germany’s election next month is expected to break a taboo on working with the far-right on Wednesday when he puts up ideas to limit immigration that may be approved with the support of the Alternative for Germany (AfD).

After an Afghan asylum seeker was arrested for fatal stabbings last week, the focus on migration policy quickly swung back into the spotlight. Friedrich Merz, the leader of Germany’s CDU/CSU conservative alliance, which is topping polls ahead of the vote on February 23, is eager to take advantage of the opportunity.

According to the opposition leader, he will introduce two proposals in parliament on Wednesday that ask for German land borders to be closed to unauthorized migrants and for increased security measures. The latter proposal is incompatible with European law, according to critics.

Merz, who has openly welcomed the assistance of any party, would need to rely on the AfD’s and other minor parties’ support to pass the resolutions because Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens are against them.

Scholz and other critics contend that this breaks the taboo for mainstream parties to collaborate with the AfD, a party that is watched by German security services on suspicion of being right-wing extremist, in an attempt to prevent it from gaining power.

Additionally, they charge Merz with not keeping his word. As late as November, Merz told mainstream parties that no ideas that needed AfD support to pass would be submitted to the Bundestag, the lower chamber of parliament.

DID THE FIREWALL BREAK?

Merz has responded by accusing the SPD and Greens of impeding what he claims is an urgent change in refugee policy in light of the millions of people who have arrived in recent years to escape poverty and conflict in the Middle East, Afghanistan, and Ukraine.

Although the AfD is ranked second behind the conservatives in popularity surveys, Merz continues to rule out forming a government with them. He runs the danger of legitimizing the AfD while alienating mainstream conservative supporters, however, by eroding the party’s so-called firewall, according to experts.

Days after Merz pledged a crackdown on migration, support for the CDU/CSU fell three points to 28%, according to a poll released on Tuesday by pollster Forsa. Scholz’s SPD increased by two points to 17%, while the AfD increased to 21%.

Although the resolutions made on Wednesday are symbolic but not legally enforceable, Merz has stated that he would submit a draft bill on immigration restrictions to the Bundestag for approval on Friday.