The prime ministers of the 16 federal states want to discuss further steps in refugee policy earlier than previously planned. “This topic will certainly be dealt with intensively at the next Prime Minister’s Conference in mid-October,” Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD) told Stern. Until now, it was intended that the issue would only be discussed with the Federal Chancellor at the Prime Minister’s Conference on November 6th.
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Before that, on October 12th, the Prime Ministers will meet for their internal annual meeting, at which Weil will also formally hand over the chairmanship of the MPK to the Hessian Prime Minister Boris Rhein (CDU). The refugee policy cannot be postponed given the pressure on the municipalities. It is important to prepare well for the consultations with the Chancellor.
Reliable federal co-financing of refugee costs is “overdue in order to bring the burdens on municipalities to a tolerable level,” emphasized Weil. “The accommodation and care of the many refugees must be viewed even more than before as a joint task between the federal, state and local governments.” Weil further told Stern: “We need a fair distribution of costs in the form of a breathing system.”
There should also be a “collaboration of rationality and prudence” across the parties. “It is misleading and dangerous to make people believe that there are a few quick measures that can be implemented to significantly reduce the number of people coming to us every week,” said Weil. However, short-term stationary checks at the Polish border “make sense”.
