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Social Democrat Schwesig: “States and municipalities are still at their limits”

Photo: Peter Rigaud / DER SPIEGEL

On Wednesday afternoon, Chancellor Olaf Scholz will discuss migration policy with the heads of government of the 16 federal states.

Before the Prime Minister's Conference (MPK), the SPD made appeals to the Union to come to an agreement.

“Taking in refugees is still an important issue,” Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig told SPIEGEL.

“The states and municipalities are still at their limits.”

In November, resolutions were agreed with the federal government on “how we can better manage migration and take stronger action against irregular migration,” said Schwesig.

These decisions must now be implemented.

"I don't believe in further fueling the difficult debate on this topic with new proposals." The aim must be to protect people fleeing war and persecution, but to limit irregular migration.

Different format with the Chancellor than usual

She would like more flexibility in implementation, said Schwesig.

»We have advocated that refugees who have good prospects of staying in the country get into work more quickly.

At the same time, it is important that they learn the German language. This needs to be more closely integrated.

It is important that the integration succeeds as quickly as possible.

This time the Prime Minister's meeting with Scholz is different than usual: it was not the Chancellor who invited the state leaders to the government headquarters, but rather he came to the Hesse state representation in Berlin.

The federal state currently holds the MPK chairmanship.

The Chancellor is essentially a guest of the states on Wednesday, and only for two hours.

According to the provisional agenda, his presence should be limited to the discussion on refugee policy.

From the perspective of the Union-led states, the federal government has shown too little commitment to examining asylum procedures outside Europe.

The implementation of many of last year's decisions failed "due to the inaction of this federal government," said North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst.

Like Schwesig, Lower Saxony's Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD) also warns of new disputes.

We have made progress on many points, Weil told the dpa news agency.

"Polarizing discussions about new demands before the impact of the decisions made can even be estimated do not help, at best those who are on the right-wing fringe."

Aside from the talks on refugee policy, the countries want to discuss a number of other topics without Scholz: on the agenda are energy prices, a pact to accelerate planning and a reform of public broadcasting.

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