She pointed out that current CDU leader Friedrich Merz - who got the backing of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in a parliamentary vote on Wednesday - had once spoken out against this kind of impromptu alliance.
"It is wrong to no longer feel bound by this proposal and thus, for the first time, to have deliberately allowed on January 29 a majority with the votes of the AfD in a vote in the German Bundestag," she said in a statement posted on her personal website.
Wednesday's vote saw the opposition CDU and its CSU partners rely on AfD votes to push through a resolution calling for Germany's borders to be permanently policed and to reject all illegal migrants in the wake of a spate of deadly attacks blamed on migrants and asylum seekers.
Instead of aligning with the AfD, Merkel called on the CDU to work with "democratic parties" to seek solutions "on the basis of relevant European law" to prevent further such attacks.
Merkel has largely refrained from commenting directly on current political debates since leaving office in 2021.
Merz has tacked to the right since taking over the CDU, promising a tougher line on immigration even before the recent attacks and criticising Merkel's record on the issue.
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