An adviser to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Monday backed a proposal to cut social benefits for Ukrainian refugees, backing a controversial proposal by the government’s coalition partner.
Thorsten Frei, the German chancellor’s chief of staff and minister for special tasks, expressed support for a proposed policy change by Christian Social Union (CSU) leader Markus Söder to end state social benefits for Ukrainian refugees.
“Söder is right when he says that we provide benefits that no other country in the world provides,” Frei told broadcasters RTL and NTV, referring to the “citizen’s allowance” (Burgergeld) payments to Ukrainians, which are usually not available to refugees from other countries.
Frei also pointed to worrying figures on the participation of Ukrainian refugees in the workforce in Germany, noting a significant gap compared to neighboring European countries.
“That’s too little when only one in three working-age Ukrainians is actually working,” he said.
On Sunday, CSU leader Markus Söder called for the abolition of citizenship benefits for all those who came from Ukraine, adding that this should apply not only to future arrivals but also to all Ukrainian refugees currently receiving benefits.
His proposal went beyond a coalition agreement reached in May between the Christian Democratic Union (CDU and CSU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD). The current agreement sets April 1 of this year as the cut-off date, after which Ukrainian newcomers would only receive lower asylum seeker benefits, not the more generous Burgergeld payments.
Germany has taken in more than a million Ukrainian refugees since the start of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in 2022.
Last year, German authorities spent 46.9 billion euros ($54.3 billion) on Burgergeld payments, of which 6.3 billion euros ($7.3 billion) were specifically allocated to Ukrainian refugees in the country, according to public broadcaster ARD.
