Germany's Scholz slams Merz on AfD cooperation in heated TV debate
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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday accused his conservative rival Friedrich Merz of being ready to cooperate with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), as the rivals faced off in a heated TV debate just two weeks before the country heads to the polls.
"That is my serious concern," Scholz said, after Merz controversially decided late last month to pass a motion in Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, with the support of the AfD.
Scholz called the move a "breach of word" and a "breach of taboo," insisting he could no longer trust Merz.
Merz - whose conservative CDU/CSU alliance is leading the polls on around 30% ahead of the vote on February 23 - repeated his denial that the move represented cooperation with the AfD.
"There is a world of distance between us" on policy, Merz said. "There are no similarities between the AfD and the [CDU/CSU]."
