Klingbeil warns against dismantling the welfare state in the budget debate

In the budget debate in the Bundestag, Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil made it clear what his limits are when it comes to reforms. We should not allow “a systematic dismantling of our welfare state to be carried out under the slogan of reform,” emphasized the SPD leader. “We need a functioning welfare state so that Germany can be a strong country.” The leadership of the coalition also agrees on this.

Two days after the AfD's election victory in Saxony-Anhalt, the Vice Chancellor also admitted that the government had lost trust. “If we want to regain trust for the necessary changes, then the question of the justice of the changes must take center stage,” he said. That must be the benchmark for all decisions. If the federal government takes the right steps, the belief will return "that we can take our future into our own hands. Then trust in the political center will also grow," said Klingbeil.

Since the evening of the election, the Union and the SPD have been debating the consequences of the AfD victory. Prominent SPD representatives are calling for planned reforms such as the abolition of the zero-deduction pension after 45 years of contributions to be re-examined. Merz announced that he would speak to the SPD, but at the same time made it clear that he believed the reforms were fundamentally necessary.