BERLIN—The front-runner in Germany’s election made a gambit this week to woo supporters of an increasingly popular far-right party by proposing a raft of new immigration restrictions. The move is now backfiring.

Germany’s parliament has narrowly approved a call by Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s main challenger to turn back many more migrants at the country’s borders, with the help of a far-right party.

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel has issued rare public criticism of her successor as the country’s center-right leader, the front-runner in Germany’s election next month, for putting to parliam

German election frontrunner Friedrich Merz succeeded on Wednesday in getting a motion passed in parliament that calls for a migration crackdown including the rejection of asylum seekers at the country's land borders.

Germany’s conservative chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz, whose CDU/CSU coalition is leading polls by double digits, upended the election campaign Wednesday by accepting votes from the nationalist Alternative for Germany to pass a hard-line migration resolution through parliament.

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.

Former German chancellor Angela Merkel has criticized her centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) for passing a motion in parliament calling for hard-line reforms to migration policy with the support of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).