German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble. Photo: Reuters

Angela Merkel’s conservatives switched tactics four days before Germany’s general election and attacked a eurosceptic party whose rapid rise endangers her centre-right coalition’s bid to defend its majority in Sunday’s vote.

Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU), which had deliberately ignored the small Alternative for Germany (AfD) so far in the campaign, deployed one of their most respected figures – Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble – to rip into the new party.

“These people claim ‘We’d be better off economically without the euro’,” the minister, celebrating his 71st birthday, told the weekly Die Zeit. “That claim is totally wrong, has no credibility and is extremely dangerous for our prosperity.”

The AfD, created in February, has up to four per cent support in opinion polls. If it clears the five per cent threshold for entering Parliament in next Sunday’s vote, it could rob Merkel of any chance of securing another centre-right majority.

Pollsters unsure of outcome as vote approaches

While Merkel’s conservatives are almost certain to come first and win her a third term, two recent polls have put her coalition a point behind the combined opposition.

If the conservatives and pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) don’t win a majority, she may be forced into a ‘grand coalition’ with the SPD.