Germans protest at conservative cooperation with far right on migration

Tens of thousands of people came out to protest against a conservative push for tougher migration laws backed by a far-right party in Germany.

Angry protesters came out in droves in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne and Leipzig on Sunday to oppose Friedrich Merz and the move by his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to pass a resolution in parliament with the support of the far-right nationalist Alternative for Germany, or AfD, party.

Many critics say that it broke Germany’s anti-far-right ‘firewall’, an unwritten post-Nazi promise by all democratic parties to never pass any rule with the support of far-right parties.

The CDU and the AfD successfully passed a non-binding resolution on Wednesday in an attempt to block undocumented foreigners at the border, including asylum seekers. However, on Friday, they failed to pass a contentious bill to further restrict immigration.

Merz, whose CDU is running ahead of the governing Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the polling for the upcoming February 23 federal election, is facing unwanted attention over his attitude towards the far right and the AfD.