How much money is being spent on refugees?
German Vice-Chancellor and SPD leader Sigmar Gabriel has called for a package of social measures that benefit the German population so it doesn't feel it is receiving less than the refugees. Are migrants being given too much?
Germans have no reason to complain
Gabriel is trying to gain support by fuelling feelings of envy, historian Götz Aly rails in the centre-left daily Berliner Zeitung:
“Without anything to back up his arguments, Gabriel has now claimed that the Germans are plagued by the feeling that their needs are being neglected because of the refugees. ... Incomes and pensions are going up in Germany; the social legislation has been expanded in this legislative period. ... In view of the predictable defeats the SPD will suffer in the upcoming state elections, Gabriel will try to use the problems posed by the flood of refugees to his advantage. According to the motto: 'They do everything for the refugees but nothing for us', he's trying to provoke feelings of envy among voters. That's pathetic.”
Germans will pay dearly for refugee crisis
The Germans will be surprised to see who pays the bill for their government's refugee policy, the liberal business daily Hospodářské noviny comments:
“It will be the conservative voters from the wealthier western part of the country who pay; the voter base of the chancellor's CDU party. … By the time the elections roll around next year it will be clear how big a burden the reception and integration of hundreds of thousands of refugees puts on the state coffers. Because of the budget surplus Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble won't have too much of a problem with this. … But what happens after the elections and after the surplus has come to an end is unclear. The same goes for the losses that the reintroduction of border controls will entail. For the German economy, which is highly interconnected with those of its neighbours, those losses could be significant. It can't be ruled out that tax hikes will become a campaign topic in the parliamentary elections.”
Refugees more privileged than Latvians
The Latvian Interior Ministry wants to set up a network of advisors to help refugees cope with their daily lives. Why are new arrivals receiving more privileges than Latvians? asks the national conservative daily Neatkarīgā:
“The children in our orphanages also need state-financed mentors. Often they still don't know what to do with themselves when they reach adulthood, and they end up becoming criminals as a result. Young people with minor mental or physical disabilities also need mentors to help them integrate into society. ... Why is one group more privileged than another? Why doesn't the government think about its own people? Why do we only use the word 'solidarity' when talking about refugees? ... No wonder thousands of Latvians are leaving their country and making room for the refugees.”