The issue of "migration into the social system" is not a new topic in political life in Germany. Over the past years, politicians of the largest economy in the European Union have repeatedly accused Romanian and Bulgarian citizens of abusing the German social system, sometimes explicitly and sometimes without explicitly mentioning them.
In 2011, Horst Seehofer, head of the Christian Social Party at the time, said: “We will resist until the last bullet and will never give in to accepting any immigration to the German social systems.”
This party, led by Seehofer, later promoted a slogan targeting alleged abuse of social benefits: “He who cheats gets fired.”
Currently, Alice Weidel and Sarah Wagenknecht are at the forefront of incitement campaigns against Romanians in Germany. The head of the populist and extreme right-wing Alternative for Germany party in some states, Alice Weidel, wrote on October 28 on the X platform: “Child benefits, basic security and medical care: more and more immigrants from Romania are plundering our German social system.”
Two days later, Sarah Wagenknecht told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper, "Politics must again think more about Bitterfeld than Bucharest. Child benefits cannot be given to children who do not live in Germany."
Biased TV report
The two politicians' statements came in response to a television documentary prepared by the Mitteldeutsche Rundfunk station, which accuses Romanian citizens residing in Magdeburg of abusing the social system.
This documentary entitled "Poverty migration to the European Union: the social state at a dead end?" Very biased: it shows pictures from Romania of luxury cars and palace-like houses. However, the report provides no evidence that the Romanian people featured in it illegally received German social benefits.
In contrast, the film only marginally touches on the fact that German landlords of so-called dilapidated properties are often the ones who extract huge sums of money from German welfare funds through exaggerated rents. The report was first broadcast on November 4, 2026 but has been available on Channel 1's live streaming service since October 26, 2026.
In Romania and among Romanians residing in Germany, Weidel's statements in particular sparked sharp criticism over the past few days. In Romania, the leaders of the main parliamentary parties, as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bucharest, protested these statements.
The head of the Socialist Party in Romania, Sorin Grindeanu, called on Weidel to apologize. Former Prime Minister and head of the National Liberal Party, Eli Bologan, described Weidel's statement as "unacceptable."
Even politicians from the Alliance for the Unification of Romanians, a right-wing, nationalist, pro-Russian party allied with the AfD, called Weidel's statement "incorrect and unfair."
Interestingly, this party has invited AfD representatives to participate in a protest march scheduled for November 14 in Bucharest. The invitation has not yet been publicly withdrawn.
In Germany, 22 Romanian organizations and initiatives protested in a statement issued on November 8, 2026, against the statements of Weidel and Wagenknecht. It also announced that it had filed an official complaint with the programming editorial board of the concerned television channel regarding its report. Among the signatories of the statement are, but are not limited to, the German-Romanian Association.
Dominique Fritz: "Cheap incitement"
The first politician in Romania to protest Weidel's statements last week was Dominik Fritz, head of the liberal "Union to Save Romania" party, who until recently was the mayor of the city of Timisoara, located in western Romania.
Fritz is of German nationality and has resided permanently in Romania since 2019. From this perspective, he posted a video clip on Facebook directly addressing Alice Weidel. He accused her of "cheap incitement" against Romanians and demanded an apology. The video clip, which was published last Tuesday (November 3, 2026), quickly spread widely in Romania.
In an interview with DW, Dominik Fritz described Weidel and Wagenknecht's statements as "an expression of deep-rooted cultural contempt towards Romania, a contempt that often spreads in Germany without anyone being asked about it and without being objected to by politicians."
Frits says it's about "prejudice and stereotypes" towards Romanians "who are allegedly taking advantage of the European Union and illegally going anywhere and either stealing jobs or are too lazy to work."
Frits says there is abuse everywhere and this cannot be justified. However, the more than 500,000 Romanians working in Germany pay taxes amounting to several billion euros.
On the other hand, there are allegations of misuse of several tens of millions of euros in child benefits paid to Romanian children. “The question again arises as to what constitutes abuse in this case,” says Fritz.
Integration is above average
In fact, out of about 900,000 Romanian citizens registered in Germany, about 520,000 of them work in jobs subject to social insurance, not counting the self-employed, low-paid workers and seasonal workers.
In general, Romanians are integrated into the German labor market to a degree above average, with the employment rate among Romanians residing in Germany who are of working age being about 76 percent, compared to 70 percent for Germans and only approximately 60 percent for all foreign citizens.
According to data from the Federal Employment Agency, the number of Romanian children who are entitled to German child benefit but are not registered in Germany was about 32,500 at the end of 2025, which represents a 5 percent decrease compared to 2020.
However, Poles constitute the largest group of those entitled to child support living abroad, numbering approximately 112,000, although it is noted that their number is also declining.
In total, German child benefit payments to eligible children abroad constitute less than 1 percent of the total amount of child benefit paid. This right is legal and the numbers do not indicate any abuse.
Sevgen Mayer, who participated in preparing the statement issued by Romanian organizations issued on November 8, 2026, is also aware of these numbers.
Mayer, who was born in Romania, has lived in Germany for more than 30 years and currently works for a workers' welfare organization in Munich. She previously worked in the "Fair Mobility" project linked to unions.
There she was providing advice to Romanian workers in Germany, most of whom were paid well below the wages set in collective labor agreements, whether through so-called “factory contracts” or as seasonal workers in the agricultural sector, or who had sometimes been subjected to wage fraud.
"It repeatedly disappoints me that people know so little about Romania, but what people like Weidel and Wagenknecht say still sticks in people's minds," Sevgen Mayer told DW. "Unfortunately, the public discourse about the Romanian community here in Germany has not changed much over all these years."
The signatories of the statement issued on November 8, 2026 demand that both Weidel and Wagenknecht apologize and correct their statements. In the coming days, a complaint will be submitted to the TV channel against the documentary film “Migration due to poverty in the European Union: The social state in trouble?”
“There may be isolated cases of welfare fraud,” says Sevgen-Mayer.
She added, "But a Romanian passport cannot be a reason for suspicion. Generalizing fraud to an entire community is a bad political signal. Because it is related to our good reputation as Romanians in Germany and our right to be here."
Prepared in Arabic by: M.A.M
