20 hours ago · Merz’s willingness to accept far-right support is hugely significant weeks ahead of a national election because Germany’s mainstream political parties have long sought to maintain a Brandmauer, or “firewall,” around the AfD — refusing even to pass legislation with help from the party.. Merz’s change of tack to accept such support is part of a …

19 hours ago · Opposition leader Friedrich Merz, ... Merz on Wednesday called the EU asylum policy “dysfunctional” and said that his proposals comply with EU law, arguing that Denmark, Sweden and others already do what he proposes. “We simply owe it to people in our country, and not least the victims of the acts of violence of recent months, to really ...

In 2023, Merz opposed the proposed EU ban on internal combustion and hybrid vehicles by 2035, stating that the fight for carbon neutrality must be achieved with technology and open mindness, not bans.

17 hours ago · The German Bundestag passed Friedrich Merz's five-point migration plan — which promised a dramatic tightening of the country's migration and asylum law — through parliament. The plan calls for ...

6 days ago · BERLIN — Friedrich Merz, the likely next chancellor of Germany, has pledged sweeping changes to the country’s migration policies as soon as he enters office. ... Merz highlighted systemic issues with the EU’s migration framework, criticizing the Dublin and Schengen agreements ― the bloc’s rules on asylum, and its passport-free travel ...

Dec 16, 2024 · Friedrich Merz criticized Olaf Scholz for failing to keep his promise, following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, to fundamentally rebuild Germany’s depleted armed forces after decades of disarmament. | Hannibal Hanschke/EPA-EFE

Dec 18, 2024 · Friedrich Merz’s long and winding journey towards the German chancellery is a tale of the federal republic’s past and present. Marinated in the determinedly pro-European, pro-Western politics of Helmut Kohl’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in the 1990s, he became co-leader of its Bundestag group in 2000, before Angela Merkel elbowed him ...

Dec 11, 2024 · Ten weeks away from elections and with a double-digit lead over his closest rival's party, conservative leader Friedrich Merz is getting used to being feted as Germany's next Chancellor.

Sep 17, 2024 · Friedrich Merz, the head of Germany's Christian Democrats, and Markus Soeder, the head of their Bavarian sister party, said on Tuesday they had agreed Merz would become chancellor...

3 days ago · German opposition leader Friedrich Merz has floated proposing legislation to tighten Germany's border controls, and claimed it would be on the SPD and Greens if he had to pass it with votes from ...