The conservative leader wants to impose strict border controls after knife killings in Aschaffenburg this week.

Friedrich Merz, currently leading in polls to become German chancellor, said Thursday if elected he will impose strict border controls.

Friedrich Merz and his conservatives view Angela Merkel’s legacy as a liability in their battle with the far right.

In Germany, a toxic national debate on Muslims and immigration has fueled the rise of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland. Polling second place ahead of February’s federal elections, mainstream parties are increasingly playing into its rhetoric.

Chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz, leader of Germany's center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), firmly rejected any cooperation with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in an interview with public broadcaster ARD on Friday evening.

Friedrich Merz, the conservative frontrunner to replace Chancellor Olaf Scholz after Germany's upcoming elections, is calling on the European Union to present a united front in response to US President-elect Donald Trump.

The country's upcoming vote could determine the future of its struggling economy and Europe's political stability

Friedrich Merz promises a swift crackdown on immigration if elected as chancellor next month following a fatal attack that left two dead in Bavarian city of Aschaffenburg

Mr Merz argued the need “to negotiate with the American side from a position of strength”. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Friedrich Merz, the frontrunner to become chancellor after Germany’s snap election next month, will take his campaign pitch to the World Economic Forum next week.

BERLIN: Germany's main opposition leader vowed on Thursday (Jan 23) to impose immediate border controls if he becomes chancellor, as expected, after elections next month, a day after an Afghan asylum seeker was arrested for a deadly knife attack targeting children.

Election campaign posters showing German Social Democratic Party, SPD, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, top, and his challenger Friedrich Merz of the Christian Democratic Union party, CDU, fixed at a lamppost