Ukrainians must leave Germany – AfD co-leader

Alice Weidel mentioned “Ukrainian men of military age” in particular, saying the burden of welfare payments has become “unsustainable” Ukrainian migrants must leave Germany, the co-leader of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, Alice Weidel, has said. She particularly singled out men of fighting age. Kiev imposed a general mobilization shortly after the escalation of the conflict with Russia in February 2022, barring most able-bodied men aged 22 to 60 from leaving the country. Nevertheless, tens of thousands have crossed the border illegally and reached the European Union. Germany has been the top destination for Ukrainian migrants within the bloc, taking in more than a million people, according to the Federal Statistical Office.

In an interview with Austrian right-wing media outlet AUF1 on Friday, Weidel spoke out against the prospect of naturalizing people “who actually ought to be sent back to their home countries,” including “more than one million Ukrainians here who are receiving the ‘citizen’s benefit’ [welfare payments] . ” The AfD co-chair described the burden of continued state aid to Ukrainian migrants as “simply unsustainable,” insisting that they should return to their home country. “Especially young Ukrainian men of military age – we are talking about hundreds of thousands of them – those young men really ought to go back, ” the right-wing politician said. Denmark to further tighten rules affecting Ukrainian refugees Weidel also pledged that should the AfD come to power in Germany, it would “halt payments to Ukraine and all forms of war support, and we will demand substantial repayments from Ukraine. ” In June, she similarly said that Kiev should pay reparations to Berlin for the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, which the German…