In June, the AfD won control of a district council in the eastern town of Sonneberg in the state of Thuringia for the first time, and there are fears it will build on this success.
Under the deal reached early Tuesday morning, authorities will save around €1 billion (£868 million) by cutting benefits paid to asylum seekers, seen as a pull factor for migrants to the ‘Germany.
These measures include doubling the length of time asylum seekers wait to receive full social benefits, from 18 to 36 months.
Until then, a reduced rate of £356 per month will apply in a country where it takes six to 18 months to process an asylum application.
Christian Lindner, the finance minister, said this would “reduce the attractiveness of the German welfare state”.
The lack of housing, places in daycare centers and schools, administrative staff, language courses and counseling services for traumatized refugees are among the worsening conditions complained of by refugees. States and municipalities under tension.
Mr Scholz agreed to pay them £6,515 per refugee from next year, as well as paying an advance of €1.75 billion (more than £1.5 billion) in the first half of 2024 .
The central state leader of Hesse estimated the total aid volume at more than £3 billion.
“A kind of Guantanamo”
Berlin, one of the EU’s most influential capitals, could now join Austria, Hungary, Denmark and Italy in supporting offshore asylum processing centers outside the bloc.
The agreement announced by Italy on Monday to build two reception and repatriation centers for migrants in Albania was criticized by opposition politicians.
Riccardo Magi, leader of +Europa (More Europe), a center-left party, compared the planned facilities to Guantanamo Bay, the US detention camp on Cuban soil.
Andrea Costa, head of the pro-migrant association Baobab Experience, told the BBC: “We don’t know if the centers in Albania will be a kind of Guantanamo, a Lampedusa, a Rwanda – or a bit of all three. »
The European Commission said on Tuesday it was still studying the legality of Italy’s plan to send migrants for processing in Albania, which is not yet an EU member.
He said Rome would have to follow the bloc’s rules on asylum, but that would only apply if potential asylum seekers reach Italian soil.
The Albanian plan will only apply to migrants intercepted at sea by the Italian navy because they will not have touched Italian or European soil.
The European Commission warned on Monday that Austrian plans to relocate asylum to Rwanda or any other third country, via an agreement with the United Kingdom, were not possible under current EU law.
Vienna has demanded offshore processing since 2017 and last week signed a migration cooperation agreement with the United Kingdom.
