Germany’s Scholz attacks conservative rival Merz over AfD cooperation

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday said his conservative rival Friedrich Merz’s promises to rule out cooperation with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) can “no longer be trusted,” just two weeks before Germany heads to the polls.

At a campaign stop in the eastern city of Potsdam, Scholz told dpa that Merz had “broken his word” on the question of working with the far right, after the centre-right CDU/CSU bloc passed a motion in parliament last week with votes from the AfD.

Merz is seen as the favourite to replace Scholz as chancellor after the vote on February 23, but his controversial move has rocked Germany, with protests taking place across the country on Saturday.

The CDU/CSU leader repeated his rejection of cooperation with the AfD at a party meeting in the southern city of Nuremberg on Saturday, arguing that working with the far party would be a form of “betraying the country.”

Merz said the CDU holds central positions in favour of the West, the European Union, the euro and NATO. “The AfD questions all of this in principle, and they want to find their salvation and peace on [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s lap.”

“There will be no form of cooperation or even government participation or toleration in any form whatsoever,” Merz added.