In order to comply with the debt brake, Finance Minister Lindner is pursuing austerity measures in the budget. The Caritas president fears that many social institutions will have to close – and the AfD will ultimately benefit.
In view of the austerity measures in the federal budget for 2024, the President of the German Caritas Association, Eva-Maria Welskop-Deffaa, has warned of massive consequences for social institutions. A lot of offers, especially smaller ones, would have to close, she told the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”. The signs from Arbeiterwohlfahrt, Diakonie or Caritas would be seen “noticeably less often”.
The budget for 2024 involves numerous cuts in all ministries. The reason is the adherence to the debt brake, which Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) is particularly insisting on. The federal government wants to spend 445.7 billion euros next year – around 30 billion less than planned for the current year.
Welskop-Deffaa sees the AfD as a possible beneficiary
The cuts in the family, labor and health ministries affect a lot of people, but the savings in the social sector are not discussed enough, Welskop-Deffaa criticized in the “NOZ”: “The fact that the cabinet has unanimously presented a federal budget for 2024 is deep “I haven’t read a lot of headlines about the cuts in the social infrastructure.”
According to the Caritas President, it is feared that the AfD could benefit from the cuts. “Especially for people who are already having a hard time, this will bring additional uncertainty into their lives,” said Welskop-Deffaa. “This uncertainty makes you more susceptible to inflammatory rhetoric like that coming from the AfD.”