“Even after the European Championships”
SPD leader calls for extension of border controls
30.06.2024, 00:13
There is no opposition within the SPD to extending border controls beyond the European Football Championship. Party leader Klingbeil agrees with Interior Minister Faeser’s assessment. He is likely to arouse more opposition within the traffic light coalition with his proposals for new special funds.
After discovering many illegal entries, SPD chairman Lars Klingbeil is in favor of extending increased border controls. “We will continue to be deployed at the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland to catch people smugglers and limit irregular migration,” said Klingbeil in an interview with the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. “That will also be the case after the European Championships,” he replied to the question of whether controls should remain at Germany’s external borders.
According to Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, 1,400 illegal entries were detected during stationary controls between June 7 and 13 alone. There will be controls at all German Schengen internal borders until July 19 due to the European Football Championship. Due to the high number of migration and numerous human trafficking activities, there have also been stationary controls at the land borders with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland for months.
Special fund for investments: Klingbeil on BDI course
The SPD chairman also commented on the traffic light dispute over the 2025 budget. As an alternative to loosening the debt brake, Klingbeil suggested a special fund worth billions to strengthen investments and the economy in Germany. “First of all, all ministries have to look at where they can save. But it is also clear that we cannot cut 30 to 40 billion from a core budget,” Klingbeil told the newspaper. We therefore have to think about other things “without ideology”. “The BDI has just proposed a special fund for investments. The SPD would be ready to talk about it immediately,” said Klingbeil.
The Federation of German Industries justified its proposal with an investment requirement of 400 billion euros over the next ten years. “We cannot save this country to death,” said Klingbeil. He wants a country “in which jobs will still be there in 20 years, in which schools will function, bridges will hold up and trains will finally run on time again.”
Seeheimer Circle for Special Funds for Internal and External Security
The alternative to new special funds remains the recognition of an emergency due to the consequences of the war in Ukraine in order to suspend the debt brake for this purpose. “If we set the right impulses with the budget now, then we will see decent growth next year. If cuts are made now and new uncertainty arises, then that will be stifled. That cannot be in the interest of the FDP finance minister either.” And no one can really deny that the war in Ukraine is an exceptional situation. “I do not want us to put economic growth against pensions or against support for Ukraine.”
The conservative SPD group “Seeheimer Kreis” had previously called for more spending on internal and external security. In addition to the special funds for the Bundeswehr, there must be constant investment in civil protection, cybersecurity and in the defense against extremist threats, according to a three-page position paper by the group. This is to be financed through new debt and tax reform. “We must abandon the rigid adherence to the black zero in order to enable massive investments,” the “Spiegel” quoted from the paper.