A who's who of German talent signed an open letter calling for political leaders to "uphold democratic values" after a historic vote in the Bundestag that saw anti-immigration proposal pass with the support of the far-right.

Germany's opposition conservatives won parliamentary approval on Wednesday for a proposal to drastically restrict migration with the help of votes from the Alternative for Germany (AfD), breaking a taboo on cooperation with the far-right.

With less than four weeks before Germany’s federal election, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his conservative challenger Friedrich Merz, who is leading polls, will take their contentious battle over how to crack down on illegal migration to parliament.

The CDU party chief, who leads in the polls to become the next chancellor, said he would collect votes from all parties to push his five-point migration plan through parliament despite Chancellor Olaf Scholz's strong opposition.

The right to asylum must be preserved, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday, as lawmakers prepared to vote on controversial motions seeking to reform the country's migration policy. In a major speech to the German parliament,