"Capacities almost exhausted": Giffey calls for help because of the high number of refugees

Berlin is providing primary care for 340,000 Ukrainian refugees, while 100,000 remain in the capital for the time being.

"Capacities almost exhausted": Giffey calls for help because of the high number of refugees

Berlin is providing primary care for 340,000 Ukrainian refugees, while 100,000 remain in the capital for the time being. Mayor Giffey is demanding more money and real estate from the federal government and a "fair" distribution. The city states in particular are at the limit of their capacities.

Berlin's governing mayor, Franziska Giffey, has warned that the capital could be overwhelmed by the high number of refugees. "We city states in particular, and especially Berlin as the main attraction, have now almost exhausted our capacities," said the SPD politician to "Bild am Sonntag". 340,000 Ukrainians received first aid in Berlin, and 100,000 are now resident in the capital. Giffey called for more federal help.

"We desperately need more federal real estate to accommodate people well," Giffey said. "Financial support for the immense costs and a fair distribution in Germany" is also necessary.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal had previously warned of a "migration tsunami" in view of Russia's targeted destruction of important infrastructure to supply the population. If there was no electricity, heating or water in Ukraine, this could "lead to a planned humanitarian catastrophe the likes of which Europe has not seen since the Second World War," he told the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung".

"Finally, not only resolutions are needed, but concrete measures," demands Gerd Landsberg, general manager of the German Association of Towns and Municipalities, in the "Bild am Sonntag". "The accommodation options are limited." "Hotel rooms are already being rented and collective accommodation, for example in gyms, is being prepared."

Saxony's Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer from the CDU also told the newspaper that the federal government "must finally help with the financing of the accommodation. The municipalities are on the attack, without the promised support they will soon no longer be able to act."