After the refugee summit with Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD), the German Association of Towns and Municipalities is sticking to its demand for financial relief for the municipalities. “The results of the refugee summit at the Federal Minister of the Interior show light and shadow. Unfortunately, the urgent question of financial relief for the municipalities remains unresolved,” said managing director Gerd Landsberg of the “Rheinische Post”.
At the summit on Thursday in Berlin, the federal, state and local authorities agreed on better coordination on the accommodation and care of refugees. A digital “dashboard” for migration should ensure “transparency” down to the district level. There were no agreements about money from the federal government. Faeser said there is a clear roadmap to further regulate funding and take stock. “The Chancellor and the Prime Ministers will continue to negotiate about this at Easter,” she said.
“Expect significant financial support”
Landsberg said: “We expect (…) at the conference of the Prime Ministers with the Federal Chancellor, significant financial support from the cities and municipalities that goes beyond the previous commitments and the higher costs for accommodation, school, daycare and integration really covers.” The federal and state governments should not let the municipalities down.
Berlin Senator for Social Affairs Katja Kipping (left) told the editorial network Germany (RND): “The federal government will have covered 100 percent of the accommodation costs by 2021. This regulation should be reactivated. That would be concrete, quick help. Then it would also be easier in practice to find pragmatic solutions – for example, if there are vacancies in certain districts and no more places in others.” Concrete agreements would have to be made by Easter at the latest.
Schleswig-Holstein’s Minister of Integration, Aminata Touré (Greens), told the RND that it was “good that the federal, state and local authorities had exchanged ideas openly and constructively”. “In view of the magnitude of the current challenges, however, I would have expected more concrete results. We urgently need more permanent accommodation in the municipalities and corresponding support from the federal government.”
