Alexander Dobrindt an MP for the Christian Social Union (CSU) told the Bild am Sonntag paper that Ukrainian refugees residing in Germany should either find jobs or go back to the “safe areas of Western Ukraine”.
CSU is the sister party to the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party and operates exclusively in the federal state of Bavaria.
“Except there are no safe areas in Ukraine,” the German RND news website commented, calling Dobrindt’s statement “populist”.
“No one can be certain that the war criminal Putin will not decide the day after tomorrow that purposefully killing civilians in Lviv or Uzhhorod [in Western Ukraine] will serve toward achieving his cruel war aims.”
RND added that Dobrindt’s suggestion is also “poisonous to any objective debate on integrating Ukrainian refugees into the German labor market,” because it creates the impression that “Ukrainians, who sought refuge in Germany since 2022, are lazy and work-shy, [whereas] the reality is more complicated.”
The outlet noted that, according to the Federal Statistical Office, 40% of Ukrainian refugees are single parents or children of single parents - a figure five times higher compared to the German population at large.
“High welfare benefits may in part explain why there are still rather few Ukrainian refugees on the [German] labor market, but it is not the only reason,” RND said, adding that Ukrainians also face bureaucratic hurdles, such as the need to get their vocational qualifications and tertiary education diplomas recognized in Germany.
RND continued: “We have become accustomed to similar utterances made by the [far-right] AfD, which is as pro-Russian as it is anti-refugees.” But with a comment like that coming from politicians belonging to Christian Democratic parties, “one might have doubts how seriously some in the CDU and CSU approach supporting Ukraine and Ukrainians.”
“The political challenges of our times are great. The extreme right is trying to upend the democratic consensus within our society, [and] assault our [peaceful] coexistence and democratic institutions,” RND said. It concluded: “Precisely because of that the politicians of democratic parties should distance themselves from demagoguery and populism, which instead of solving problems, make existing ones worse.”
