Germany’s opposition leader has vowed to bar people from entering the country without proper papers and to step up deportations if he is elected as chancellor next month, as a knife attack by a rejected asylum-seeker spills over into an election campaign in which he is the front-runner.

Friedrich Merz, the conservative front-runner in the race for Germany’s chancellorship, called for a radical overhaul of the country’s migration policy including permanent border checks. The comments come after an asylum seeker from Afghanistan was taken into custody over a fatal stabbing of a two-year-old child and a man in a park on Wednesday.

The conservative leader wants to impose strict border controls after knife killings in Aschaffenburg this week.

German conservative leader Friedrich Merz has demanded fundamental changes to migration policy and a dramatic increase in deportations after the deadly stabbing in the southern city of Aschaffenburg.

In Germany, the fatal knife attack by a 28-year-old Afghan in Aschaffenburg has once again triggered a debate on asylum. CDU leader Friedrich Merz

Friedrich Merz, the leading candidate for the chancellery in Germany's upcoming election, said a leaked briefing by Germany's ambassador to the United States heavily criticising Donald Trump was damaging to the German government's reputation.

Latest YouGov poll shows Friedrich Merz's conservative CDU/CSU bloc commanding 28% of voter support, leading Chancellor Scholz's Social Democrats by 9 percentage points - Anadolu Ajansı

The country's upcoming vote could determine the future of its struggling economy and Europe's political stability

Mr Merz argued the need “to negotiate with the American side from a position of strength”. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday that he met with German opposition leader Friedrich Merz, just weeks before a federal election in Germany. "We discussed ways to further advance a just peace for Ukraine,

German opposition leader Friedrich Merz, tipped to become chancellor in next month's election, said on Tuesday U.S. President Donald Trump could prove an interesting partner for Europe provided the region had a strong common negotiating position.

German opposition leader Friedrich Merz sees potential in collaborating with U.S. President Trump, advocating for a strong European negotiating stance. His call for unified military purchases faces challenges from France's defense industry.