Germany’s Development Minister, Reem Alabali-Radovan, Vows to Defend Budget for Ministry
Berlin, Germany – Germany’s Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development, Reem Alabali-Radovan, has pledged to fiercely defend the budget for her ministry in the face of proposed cuts. In an interview with the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland, Alabali-Radovan emphasized the importance of public development efforts, stating, “We want to significantly strengthen public development services.”
The minister’s remarks come as the country’s Finance Minister, Lars Klingbeil, has called for budget cuts across all government departments, including the development ministry. The coalition agreement has indeed committed to reducing development aid, a move that Alabali-Radovan believes will have severe consequences.
“Not only is economic cooperation and development more important today than ever before, but the nationalist tendencies of key partners, such as the United States’ withdrawal, are also having a significant impact on development policy” Alabali-Radovan warned. “This is leading to increased poverty, hunger, epidemics and an influx of refugees.”
The minister acknowledged that the coalition agreement did discuss the potential elimination of the development ministry, with Alabali-Radovan and Klingbeil, as a member of the same party, having fought hard to preserve the ministry during the coalition negotiations. “Lars Klingbeil and the SPD worked hard in the coalition negotiations to secure the ministry’s future and the development policy” she said.