With less than four weeks before Germany’s federal election, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his conservative challenger Friedrich Merz, who is leading polls, will take their contentious battle over how to crack down on illegal migration to parliament.

The German Bundestag passed Friedrich Merz's five-point migration plan — which promised a dramatic tightening of the country's migration and asylum law — through parliament. MPs narrowly voted in favour of turning away asylum seekers and other migrants back at Germany's borders — despite criticism that this could break both German and EU asylum law.

Opening the door to leaning on support from the far-right is a gamble for Merz, who believes that his increasingly radical stance on migration will win back right-wingers who are tempted to vote for the AfD. But in so doing, he could risk losing support from the centre.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz accused rival Friedrich Merz of breaking a taboo by aligning migration views with right-wing Alternative for Germany. With elections nearing, Merz seeks to win back votes by proposing stricter border controls and parliamentary motions on migration,

Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s main challenger in Germany’s upcoming election plans to put proposals for a tougher migration policy to parliament

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has described a vote in parliament on a motion to tighten migration policy passed with support from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) a "bad sign" for the country.