For the year 2024, Germany has set aside 5.5 to 6 billion euros in its budget for the payment of monetary aid to Ukrainians who have sought asylum in the country. Last year, 2023, the funds were even more - 8.8 billion euros.
For comparison: the funds for military aid to Ukraine this year are 8 billion euros, and in the draft budget for 2025 – 4 billion. Against the background of these figures, in Germany, proposals to revise the system of social support for Ukrainian refugees have been heard more and more often recently – including to encourage them to more actively look for work.
How much do refugees from Ukraine get in Germany
Ukrainian refugees have a special legal status in Germany. First, unlike refugees from all other countries, including those where there is war or armed conflict, they do not have to go through a long administrative procedure to obtain a residence permit and asylum. By virtue of a special EU directive, Ukrainians automatically receive temporary protection in Germany and the other countries of the Community.
Secondly, which is already a purely German specific, Ukrainians receive much more financial assistance in the Federal Republic than all other asylum seekers. Ukrainian refugees, as well as needy German citizens, are paid basic social benefits, the so-called Bürgergeld.
At the same time, this amount is not small at all: single people receive 563 euros per month, and couples – 506 euros per person. In addition, the state covers the costs of medical insurance, rent and part of overhead costs, allocates money for the purchase of furniture and school supplies, pays for language courses.
Not all German residents who work in the low-wage sector have as much financial means as Ukrainian refugees, critics of the current practice point out. They also compare the amount of benefits received in Germany with those in other EU countries.
How is it in other countries
Poland, for example, pays Ukrainians benefits only for the first three months, after which they have to start supporting themselves. In the Czech Republic, after the first five months, they start receiving an amount equal to 130 euros per month. In Great Britain, state aid is even lower.
At the same time, about two thirds of Ukrainian refugees work in Poland and the Czech Republic, in Great Britain – over half. In Germany, which has received the largest number of people fleeing the war in Ukraine, this share is significantly smaller.
According to the latest data from the Ministry of Labor, about 220,000 Ukrainians work full-time in Germany, and another 50,000 work part-time with incomes below 538 euros per month. Considering that there are about 1.2 million Ukrainian refugees in Germany, the proportion of those who support themselves can be considered quite modest.
Who wants to cut aid for Ukrainians
„Exactly Ukrainians could be much more easily integrated into the German labor market, but only 20 percent of them work, because they are practically not forced to,” said at the beginning of the year the prime minister of the state of Saxony, Michael Kretschmer from the CDU.
But not only the conservatives, who are currently in opposition, are supporters of the idea of reducing aid for Ukrainian refugees. This measure enjoys the support of the general secretary of the Liberals participating in the government – Bijan Jir-Sarai. In response to his call, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said the German government has no plans to cut aid to people who fled to Germany from the war in Ukraine.
Neither conservatives nor liberals can be suspected of a lack of desire to help Ukraine. Conservative chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz, for example, is also an advocate for the delivery of TAURUS cruise missiles to Ukraine.
The Minister of Finance believes that billions can be saved on the budget
Recently, however, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner, also a representative of the liberals, came up with an initiative to reduce aid for Ukrainian refugees. In a big interview with the magazine “Wirtschaftsvohe“ he proposed to revise the privileged legal status that citizens of Ukraine automatically receive in Germany, and that the monetary benefits for them should not differ from those for all other asylum seekers in the country.
More specifically, Lindner offers all recipients of the so-called Bürgergeld to take exactly a fixed amount to pay the rent – and not according to the actual costs of the occupied dwelling. “Thus, they will decide for themselves whether it is not more profitable for them to move to a smaller home and how to heat it,” said Lindner, who believes that billions could be saved in Germany's budget in this way.
The comment made on this occasion by government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit to DV sounds evasive. “ The chancellor took note of the statements of the finance minister.“ Hebestreit also recalled that at the time there were good reasons for granting Ukrainian refugees such a status. As for the amount of aid, according to him, many things will depend on the further development of the situation. However, Hebestreit emphasized that the government has no such plans for now.