BERLIN: Germany´s conservative election front-runner Friedrich Merz was set to outline his plans on immigration and the economy at a party congress on Monday after a weekend of mass protests against him, and with less than three weeks to go until national elections.
Opposition CDU leader Merz and his Bavarian CSU allies have vowed a crackdown on irregular migrants but provoked strong protests in parliament and on the streets after accepting support from MPs of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Their joint votes in parliament twice last week breached a long-standing taboo in post-war Germany and shattered what has been labelled a “firewall” of non-cooperation between mainstream and extremist parties.
