CDU leader Friedrich Merz may need support in the Bundestag from the AfD, a move that has attracted wide condemnation.

The Alternative for Germany party helped conservatives push an immigration restriction proposal over the threshold this week, breaking the long-standing “firewall” separating the party from mainstream politics.

The German Bundestag will hold a debate on the "influx limitation law" then vote on it. The law, proposed by the conservative CDU/CSU bloc, could pass in the lower house with the aid of the far-right AfD party.