German opposition leader says migration talks have broken down

Friedrich Merz, the leader of Germany's opposition conservatives, declared that talks with Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government on tightening asylum and migration policy have failed.

Merz said that Scholz's centre-left coalition had decided not to to carry out comprehensive rejections of asylum seekers at Germany's national borders - a key demand of his Christian Democrats and their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU).

"This means that the attempt to find a common path has failed," he said following the cross-party talks in Berlin.