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Bavaria’s Minister-President Markus Söder is shaking up the coalition agreement of Germany’s so-called black-red federal government.
In a ZDF summer interview on Sunday, Söder said he is in favour of reducing benefits for certain Ukrainian refugees, who currently receive a citizen’s allowance.
The German citizen’s allowance is a state welfare benefit given to those with little or no income to ensure a minimum standard of living.
Söder specified that only newly arrived refugees from Ukraine should receive reduced social benefits, adding that it must be ensured that there is “no more citizen’s allowance for all those who have come from Ukraine.”
This must apply “not only for those who come in the future,” “but for everyone,” he added.
Söder justified his stance by saying that no other country was granting Ukrainian refugees benefits comparable to the citizen’s allowance. This is one reason why comparatively few Ukrainians have taken up employment in Germany despite having good qualifications.
In their coalition agreement, the CDU/CSU and SPD had agreed that Ukrainian refugees who come to Germany from 1 April 2025 should in future – like other refugees – only receive benefits in accordance with the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act.
Binding legal implementation yet to take place
Ukrainian refugees who arrive in Germany after this date and prove that they are in need will in future only receive benefits in accordance with the Asylum Seekers’ Benefits Act instead of citizens’ benefits. People who arrived before this date will still be entitled to citizen’s allowance.
However, a binding legal implementation of this regulation has not yet taken place. Currently, Ukrainians who arrived after the cut-off date continue to receive citizen’s allowance.
Expenditure on citizens’ benefits in Germany rose to a total of €46.9 billion in 2024 – an increase of around €4 billion. This is according to the Federal Ministry of Social Affairs’ answer to a question from the AfD in the Bundestag.
A total of €22.2 billion was paid to foreign recipients of citizens’ benefits. Of this, €6.3 billion was paid to Ukrainian recipients of citizen’s allowance.
