"Most of the people who come to us will stay permanently"

The Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hendrik Wüst, expects numerous migrants and refugees to remain in Germany permanently. "Let's be honest: the vast majority of people who come to us will stay longer, many of them permanently in Germany," said the CDU politician to the "Rheinische Post". You have to do justice to these people. Wüst mentioned the accommodation, daycare and school attendance for the children and integration.

Wüst emphasized that these are cost-intensive long-term tasks that the federal states and municipalities cannot handle alone. But the reality is different. Although the number of newcomers is much higher today than in 2016, there is much less financial support from the federal government. In 2016, the federal government contributed 40 percent to the refugee spending of the federal states. In 2022 it was not even 20 percent, the Prime Minister calculated. He emphasized: "This blatant disproportion must come to an end."

Wüst warned towards the federal government: "Ignoring problems only strengthens the political fringes in the end." The CDU politician also called for a top meeting with the Federal Chancellor on the subject "soon". He called the most recent top-level talks with Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) “completely inadequate”.

"Kick-off Politics" is WELT's daily news podcast. The most important topic analyzed by WELT editors and the dates of the day. Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, among others, or directly via RSS feed.