The Interior Minister of the CSU, Alexander Dobrindt, has abruptly halted the admission of voluntary participants to the federal integration and language courses offered in Germany. According to a letter from the CDU/CSU parliamentary group to its SPD colleagues-reported by “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, NDR and WDR-Dobrindt made the decision without consulting the SPD’s Bundestag faction. The letter states that the “admission halt for voluntary participants happened without a vote with the SPD faction”, and the SPD leadership denounced the move as “wrong from an integration, societal and labour‑market point of view”.
The SPD argues that integration courses are indispensable for successful integration and a functioning migration system. SPD MP Hakan Demir called the Interior Ministry’s unilateral action “a foul play” and warned that the final word has not yet been spoken. “We must not accept this” he added. SPD deputy chairwoman Sonja Eichwede echoed this stance, emphasizing that it is of “special importance for integration into society and the labour market that the courses remain open to voluntary participants” as well.
In contrast, members of the governing bloc have largely backed the minister. Armin Schuster, Interior Minister of the CDU‑led state of Saxony, said that Dobrindt was “right” in reducing integration subsidies, arguing that support should be targeted at those with a realistic possibility of staying in Germany. Schuster accused the state of having “already sent wrong signals to rejected asylum seekers that they must leave the country” by offering unrestricted integration programmes.
A confidential crisis meeting later that Wednesday, involving a larger group, was reportedly inconclusive. SPD politicians responsible for internal affairs and finance were told to continue discussions with the upper leadership of the federal Interior Ministry in order to find a compromise. The question at hand is whether other budget areas within the ministry could be trimmed sufficiently to preserve a substantial portion of the courses. Under Dobrindt’s unexpected plan, participation by asylum seekers, legally protected individuals, recently relocated Ukrainians and EU citizens will no longer be regularly funded by the public purse. Funding will be limited to those who have successfully obtained asylum or have a strong likelihood of being able to stay in Germany.