Germany’s parliament has backed a proposal to drastically restrict migration into the country in a symbolically significant vote.
The non-binding proposal passed by just three votes after the CDU/CSU conservative bloc cooperated with far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
By teaming up with the AfD, the conservatives have broken a long-standing refusal from the mainstream parties to work with the far-right.
The AfD are predicted to be the second largest party at national elections on February 23, behind the conservatives.
Proposals bought forward by Friedrich Merz, the leader of Germany’s CDU/CSU conservative bloc, called for heightened security measures and the closure of German land borders to irregular migration.
The non-binding motions were opposed by Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens. In the end, the land border measure passed by just three votes, while the security proposal was rejected, Reuters reports.
Chancellor Scholz criticised the conservatives for breaking the taboo of working with the AfD to try and keep them from power.
He told parliament: “Since the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany over 75 years ago, there has always been a clear consensus among all democrats: We do not make common cause with the extreme right.”
Directing his words to Merz, Scholz said: “You have broken this basic consensus of our republic in the heat of the moment.”
The vote now raises the possibility that the conservative bloc could enter a coalition with the AfD after the election, although Merz’s party are currently denying they would enter such an arrangement.
Migration policy has been a source of much debate in recent weeks in Germany after an Afghan asylum seeker was arrested over the fatal stabbing of a toddler and a 41-year-old man in a park last week.
Related: Germans form ‘sea of light for democracy’ ahead of elections