German far-right leader urges conservatives to break down ‘firewall’ against his party

BERLIN (AP) — A leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany is urging members of the country’s main opposition conservative bloc to break down a “firewall” meant to isolate his party, which is at record levels in polls. Alternative for Germany, or AfD, gathered on Friday for a convention stretching over the next two weekends at which it plans to choose candidates and set its policy platform for next June’s European Parliament election. Recent polls put support for AfD at 19-22%, behind only the main conservative opposition bloc. Earlier this week, the latter’s main leader insisted that there would be no cooperation even at the local level between his party and AfD, after his apparent suggestion that they might work together prompted criticism.