The conservative Christian Democrats have not suffered major damage in the polls despite having accepted support from the far right. But fewer people now trust Chancellor hopeful Friedrich Merz not to veer to the right.

And the defence minister, Boris Pistorius, has become Germany’s most popular politician despite issuing stark warnings that the country must be kriegstüchtig, or “war-capable”, by the end of the decade.

Support for Germany's conservative bloc fell by 2 percentage points to 28% within a week, a survey showed on Tuesday after its lead candidate Friedrich Merz used the backing of the far-right to get plans for a migration crackdown through parliament.

In the first Bundestag meeting since the ruling coalition collapsed last week, the leader of Germany's largest opposition party laid out his plans for the country in a fiery debate. View on euronews

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other key European leaders are deep underwater in popular support, according to a new poll from the Tyson Group national research firm.