But that consensus, often described as a "firewall" by German politicians, seemed to have been undermined on Wednesday when a motion on migration policy put forward by the conservative CDU/CSU bloc was approved by the Bundestag with the support of the far-right AfD.

German lawmakers face another hugely contentious vote on Friday, days after a motion demanding reforms to migration laws passed in parliament with backing from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD),

The Alternative for Germany party helped conservatives push an immigration restriction proposal over the threshold this week, breaking the long-standing “firewall” separating the party from mainstream politics.

Nearly half of Germans believe it is justifiable to cooperate with the far-right AfD party when democracy requires it. An example of this is the tightening of the country's migration policy. The Christian Democrats,