Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 4, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 26, 2026
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German conservatives' support drops 2% in polls as migration policy becomes a key election issue. SPD steady at 16%, AfD at 20%.
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - 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.
Less than three weeks before federal elections, the Forsa poll for RTL/ntv also showed support for Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD) holding steady at 16%. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) was unchanged at 20%.
Merz, running for chancellor on the conservative CDU/CSU alliance's ticket, last week won parliamentary approval for a proposal to restrict migration with the help of votes from the AfD, breaking a taboo on cooperation with the far-right.
The focus of the campaign has shifted sharply to migration after an Afghan asylum seeker was arrested over deadly stabbings on Jan. 22, which followed other high-profile killings in public spaces by people with an immigrant background.
Merz's bid to follow up with an additional draft migration law in parliament failed last Friday, when some of his own legislators denied him support.
The Forsa poll was conducted between Jan. 28 and Feb. 3, almost entirely after the first parliamentary vote.
(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Madeline Chambers)
The main topic is the decline in support for German conservatives in polls amid a migration policy debate.
Friedrich Merz is the lead candidate for Germany's conservative CDU/CSU alliance in the upcoming federal elections.
Migration has become a central issue in the election following high-profile incidents and legislative proposals.
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