Germany allocates an additional 3 billion euros for refugee reception

The German government has decided to allocate an additional three billion euros to federal states and municipalities to cope with this year's record influx of refugees and migrants, according to a joint statement by the ruling coalition, reports the Patria News Agency.

This was agreed upon at a joint meeting of Chancellor Angela Merkel and leaders of the ruling coalition, which lasted more than five hours and at which a number of other measures were agreed upon, such as accelerating asylum procedures and speeding up the construction of shelters for asylum seekers.

In addition to the aforementioned three billion euros for federal states and municipalities, the central German government also plans an additional three billion euros to finance its costs, i.e. for asylum seeker benefits, according to the joint statement.

The agreement to speed up asylum processing includes a broader list of countries considered "safe," whose citizens generally do not have this right. This applies to Kosovo, Albania, and Montenegro. Among those already in this category are Serbia, Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The goal is to speed up asylum for migrants from Southeast Europe, so that they can then focus on refugees from war-torn countries - Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The coalition meeting was held at the end of a weekend during which 18,000 refugees entered Germany.

Germany expects 800,000 migrants and refugees this year, which is by far the highest of all EU countries, according to the statement of the ruling German coalition, writes Index.