BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s parliament is expected to vote Friday on an opposition bill calling for tougher rules on migration that could become the first legislation to pass thanks to a far-right party — adding to a controversy about the attitude of the front-runner in Germany’s upcoming election toward the far right.

Germany's conservative election frontrunner Friedrich Merz defiantly vowed Friday to pass a bill to restrict immigration with the support of the far-right AfD, repeating a tactic that has sparked an

Opposition leader Friedrich Merz has put demands for a more restrictive approach to migration at the centre of his campaign for the February election.

A 99-year-old Holocaust survivor said on Thursday he would return his federal order of merit award to the German state in protest over a parliamentary vote in which support from the far-right was used for the first time to secure a majority.

Germany’s conservative bloc requested a surprise recess in the lower house of parliament on Friday in a sign of the tension over plans to pass a hard-line immigration bill with backing of the far right.

Germany's opposition conservatives won parliamentary approval on Wednesday for a proposal to drastically restrict migration with the help of votes from the Alternative for Germany (AfD), breaking a taboo on cooperation with the far-right.