Friedrich Merz is a familiar face of his conservative party's old guard. Politically, he has never come across as exhilarating. And yet his explosive bid to tighten migration rules with the support of far-right votes in parliament reveals a man willing to gamble by breaking a major taboo.

German conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz expressed his shock at US President Donald Trump's statements on the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Friday, decrying Trump's sudden verbal attacks on Ukraine's leadership.

The 69-year-old CDU leader Friedrich Merz is a major favourite for the German chancellorship after Sunday's snap election. View on euronews

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday he will travel to Washington to try to convince President Donald Trump that his interests were in line with European allies and that showing any weakness to Russia's Vladimir Putin would make it harder to deal with China and Iran.

Friedrich Merz, who is poised to become Germany’s chancellor in a CDU-led government, has extensive experience as a lawyer and working with major corporations.

An economic slump, an immigration crisis and the lifting of a security blanket provided for decades by the U.S. are issues on the minds of German voters. The far-right AfD is polling in second place.

Friedrich Merz, a conservative rival of Angela Merkel, is on track to become the next chancellor, though the far-right AfD is expected to make historic gains.

The Sunday vote comes amid an economy in the doldrums, big questions over Europe's security posture, and a surging far-right.