Sources told dpa that Germany's centre-right CDU/CSU plan to push forward with a highly controversial vote on legislation cracking down on migration in the lower house of German parliament despite last-minute talks with other parties.

Protesters in Berlin gathered outside CDU headquarters.Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Germany on Thursday to protest the conservative Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union parties.

Protesters in Germany on Thursday rallied against the conservative CDU party to decry its cooperation with the far-right AfD in pushing through parliament a motion to demand a crackdown on immigration.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in cities across Germany on Thursday after a controversial motion demanding migration reforms was passed in parliament the previous day with support from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).