Merz accuses AfD of seeking to promote "ethnic cleansing" with "remigration" policy

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz accused the AfD party (Alternative for Germany) of intending to promote "ethnic cleansing" through its "remigration" policy, which proposes the expulsion of immigrants and refugees from the country. Merz made this accusation during a confrontation with the AfD leader, Alice Weidel, in the Bundestag, the German parliament. This episode marks a moment of strong political tension in Germany, with the chancellor using very direct language to condemn the proposals of the far-right party. The confrontation between Merz and Weidel occurred days after the AfD achieved a significant victory in regional elections in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the east of the country, where it obtained 43.8% of the votes. This electoral result reinforced the position of the far-right in German politics and intensified the debate on migration policies in the country. Merz's accusation comes in a context of growing popularity of far-right parties in Germany, particularly in the regions of former East Germany, where questions about immigration and national identity have dominated the political discourse.