Martin Holland<p>Opposition leader <a href="https://federation.network/tags/FriedrichMerz" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#FriedrichMerz</a> accused of breaking longstanding political firewall against far-right populists</p><blockquote>Among opponents of <a href="https://federation.network/tags/Merz’s" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Merz’s</a> proposals were the leaders of the Protestant and Catholic churches in <a href="https://federation.network/tags/Germany" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Germany</a>, who in a joint letter addressed to him warned of the dangers of breaking the long-held taboo of not working with the <a href="https://federation.network/tags/AfD" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#AfD</a>. “We fear that German <a href="https://federation.network/tags/democracy" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#democracy</a><span> will be massively damaged if this political promise is abandoned,” they wrote.<br><br>The churches expressed their dismay at the “timing and tone” of the debate, warning it was likely to “defame all migrants living in Germany and stir up prejudice”. Neither they added, did it contribute to solving the existing challenges.</span></blockquote><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/29/german-immigration-motion-passes-breaking-taboo-on-cooperation-with-afd" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/29/german-immigration-motion-passes-breaking-taboo-on-cooperation-with-afd</a> <a href="https://federation.network/tags/NoToRacism" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#NoToRacism</a> <a href="https://federation.network/tags/Racism" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Racism</a> <a href="https://federation.network/tags/NoAfD" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#NoAfD</a><p></p>