{"id":42631,"date":"2025-02-03T12:03:28","date_gmt":"2025-02-03T17:03:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/front-runner-in-german-election-says-his-party-will-never-work-with-the-far-right\/03\/02\/2025\/"},"modified":"2025-02-03T12:03:28","modified_gmt":"2025-02-03T17:03:28","slug":"front-runner-in-german-election-says-his-party-will-never-work-with-the-far-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/front-runner-in-german-election-says-his-party-will-never-work-with-the-far-right\/03\/02\/2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Front-runner in German election says his party will ‘never’ work with the far right"},"content":{"rendered":"

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BERLIN (AP) \u2014 The front-runner in Germany’s upcoming election said Monday that the far-right Alternative for Germany is his \u201cmost important opponent\u201d and his party will \u201cnever\u201d work with it, following a week in which he was accused of breaking a taboo on dealing with the far right<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Center-right opposition leader Friedrich Merz’s Union bloc has been leading polls ahead of the Feb. 23 election. But he drew protests after he put a motion to parliament last week calling for Germany to turn back many more migrants at its borders. It passed narrowly<\/a> thanks to support from the far-right party.<\/p>\n

That was a first that prompted strong criticism from his opponents and a public rebuke<\/a> from ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel, who once led his own party. Tens of thousands of protesters<\/a> took to the streets over the weekend.<\/p>\n

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Merz, determined to prove his party’s commitment to a tougher approach to migration<\/a>, rejects the criticism. He says his position is unchanged and that he didn’t and won’t work with Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is in second place in recent polls. He points the finger at the center-left governing parties for being unwilling to approve changes to migration rules.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can assure voters in Germany very clearly of one thing: We will not work with the party that calls itself Alternative for Germany \u2014 not before (the election), not after, never,\u201d he told a convention of his Christian Democratic Union on Monday, to applause. \u201cThis party stands against everything our party and our country built up in Germany over the past years and decades. It stands against our Western orientation, it stands against the euro, it stands against NATO.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the most important opponent for us in this election campaign \u2014 we want to make it small again,\u201d Merz said to applause, adding that there won’t be a minority government with its support or any other variation on cooperation. \u201cThere are no ifs, there are no buts.\u201d<\/p>\n

The governing parties say Merz broke his word not to allow any measures to pass thanks to AfD’s votes in an outgoing parliament in which there are no clear majorities. Chancellor Olaf Scholz has suggested Merz can no longer be trusted not to form a government with AfD, which Merz angrily denies.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are being attacked, and there are protests against our policy,\u201d he said Monday, but \u201cit’s important to hold our course\u201d on migration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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BERLIN (AP) — The front-runner in Germany’s upcoming election said Monday that the far-right Alternative for Germany is his “most important opponent”