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

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.

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.

Friedrich Merz, the leader of the CDU and candidate for German Chancellor, has announced plans to repair relations with Poland and France if he wins the upcoming election. During an event in Berlin organised by The Koerber Foundation,

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.

Conservative frontrunner to be country’s next chancellor aims to submit tough migration proposals to MPs next week

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

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

Merz, whose centre-right bloc currently tops the polls, is toughening his stance on migration ahead of federal elections next month.View on euronews

The chairman of the party and fraction of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Friedrich Merz, gives a press conference in the German parliament in Berlin, in reaction to the knife attack on January 22 in Aschaffenburg.