German opposition leader criticizes EU group's contacts with far-right party

Chancellor Friedrich Merz has criticized the European People's Party (EPP) group in the European Parliament for holding talks with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). Merz said the EPP group's leader, Manfred Weber, bears responsibility for these contacts, which were reportedly made through a chat group.

Merz and other members of his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the CSU, have called for an investigation into the matter. They want to clarify the nature and extent of the communications between the EPP and the AfD.