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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Deborah Cole in Schkeuditz and Teltow

Merz’s gamble: Germany’s centre-right leader splits voters by flirting with hardline AfD

Friedrich Merz AFD Germany CDU Greens Immigration
Germany’s CDU leader Friedrich Merz attends his party’s conference in Berlin
Germany’s CDU leader, Friedrich Merz, centre, attends his party’s conference in Berlin last Monday. Photograph: Ebrahim Noroozi/AP

On a foggy, frigid morning in Saxony, far-right MP René Bochmann could not believe his party’s luck in the final days of the German election campaign, with all eyes on Alternative für Deutschland (AfD).

Since conservative frontrunner Friedrich Merz signalled a taboo-breaking openness to AfD support for his hardline course on border policy, voters visiting Bochmann’s information stands in small towns such as Schkeuditz have had one issue at the front of their minds: immigration.

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