On Wednesday, Merz pushed through a non-binding motion in favour of an immigration crackdown with support from the AfD, breaking with Germany’s tradition of consensus-driven, centrist politics. Many fear it will only further embolden the far right.

With less than four weeks before Germany’s federal election, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his conservative challenger Friedrich Merz, who is leading polls, will take their contentious battle over how to crack down on illegal migration to parliament.

The CDU party chief, who leads in the polls to become the next chancellor, said he would collect votes from all parties to push his five-point migration plan through parliament despite Chancellor Olaf Scholz's strong opposition.