Friedrich Merz, the CDU’s candidate for chancellor in Germany’s upcoming snap elections in February, is looking to shore up support among his base. View on euronews

Friedrich Merz, the favourite to become Germany's next chancellor, said on Monday that he is ready to lead the country as his conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) assembled in Berlin for a party conference weeks ahead of national elections.

Last week, the CDU broke the mainstream parties' so-called firewall of noncooperation with the far-right Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, as it relied on votes from AfD members in Germany's parliament, the Bundestag, to pass a nonbinding vote on tougher border and asylum rules.

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel criticized Friedrich Merz, her successor as leader of the country’s conservatives, on Thursday for pushing through a bill on tighter immigration control with the help of the far right.

The front-runner in Germany’s upcoming election says the far-right Alternative for Germany is his “most important opponent” and his party will “never” work with it

The centre-right CDU has been accused of breaking 'taboo' by putting forward a motion to the Bundestag for a stricter migration policy which was backed by the far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD).

Germany's election frontrunner Friedrich Merz on Monday called on his conservative CDU to "stay the course" after mass protests against its acceptance of far-right AfD support for calls to restrict immigration.