German Chancellor Friedrich Merz rejected calls from some in his party to relax its refusal to deal with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) on Monday, declaring that the still-growing party has nothing in common with his conservatives.
The anti-migration AfD finished second in Germany's snap national election in February and polls since then have shown its support base continues to grow, with some putting it level with or even ahead of Merz's Union bloc.
