The leading candidate, Friedrich Merz, a conservative who has adopted many of the AfD’s hard-line positions on immigration, used his closing statement of the debate to promise his voters that he would never allow the AfD into his government. Under him, he said, the firewall would hold.

Alice Weidel, the first ever candidate of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party for the post of Chancellar, lives with her partner and two children in Switzerland.

As an openly gay politician who lives with her Sri Lanka-born partner in Switzerland, Alice Weidel was an unusual choice to many to lead Germany's far-right and anti-immigration AfD into

As Dr Weidel took the stage in Halle, the crowd started a chant that was a not-too-subtle play on a Nazi slogan, “Everything for Germany,” a phrase once carved on the knives of Nazi storm troopers. It is banned in Germany.

As Germany heads to parliamentary polls on Sunday (February 23), the spotlight will be firmly placed on the divisive far-right party, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and its leader, Alice Weidel.

The leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has been endorsed by Donald Trump - and looks set to make huge gains in this weekend's snap election.

Germany's elections are taking place on Sunday, and it is the party set to finish second that is attracting much of the attention. The far-right AfD could win as many as 145 of the Bundestag's 630 seats, according to polling. This comes just 12 years after the party was founded.

Concern is growing over the far-right Alternative for Germany party’s rise ahead of the German election. Its U.S. supporters include Elon Musk and JD Vance.

Elon Musk wants the far right AfD to win the German election - here’s how he became their champion - Germany’s leading political figures say Musk will face consequences for his endorsement of the country’s far-right party,