Germany's conservative chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz explicitly distanced himself and his party from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in an interview with DW.

You have to make a decision. Do you want to have the party of [Chancellor] Olaf Scholz and all those eunuchs? Or are you on our side, with Elon Musk and Donald Trump? Which side has more sex appeal?”

Over the weekend, tens of thousands of people took to the streets across Germany to protest against the CDU and AfD.

The man likely to lead Germany's next government says there would be no cooperation with the far-right AfD. Friedrich Merz's conservative CDU/CSU bloc has faced flak after accepting AfD support on legislation.

Germany's election frontrunner Friedrich Merz on Monday called on his conservative CDU to "stay the course" after mass protests against its acceptance of far-right AfD support for calls to restrict immigration.

In Germany, protests are ongoing against the joint voting by CDU/CSU and Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the Bundestag regarding stricter migration policies. In Berlin, 160,000 people participated in Sunday's demonstration,

Protests have erupted across Germany in the wake of two contentious parliamentary votes on immigration, with marchers venting anger at the conservative bloc for breaking the taboo on collaborating with the far-right AfD.