An angry pre-election showdown on immigration flared in Germany's parliament Wednesday as the conservative opposition said it would accept support from lawmakers of the far-right AfD, breaching a long-standing taboo.

Centre-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz told his election rival Friedrich Merz that any cooperation with the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party would be an "unforgivable mistake".

Merz, who planned to file motions demanding tougher immigration rules, fired back at Scholz by recalling a series of bloody attacks blamed on asylum seekers and demanded: "What else needs to happen in Germany?"

"How many more children have to become victims of such acts of violence before you also believe there is a threat to public safety and order?"

Emotions are raw ahead of Germany's February 23 elections after a knife attack last week killed two people, including a two-year-old child. Police have arrested a 28-year-old Afghan man as the main suspect.

Merz, whose CDU-CSU alliance strongly leads Scholz's SPD in opinion polls, has vowed to go "all in" with demands to massively limit irregular immigration and permanently police all........

© International Business Times