By SCM Correspondent I Wednesday, Nov.19.25
BERLIN – German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is set to wield the axe on welfare payments for new Ukrainian refugees, hitting those arriving after April 2025 in a brutal move to force them to ‘work or walk’ back home.
The controversial new bill, expected to sail through the Bundestag, will slash monthly cash handouts for new arrivals, aligning them with the less generous benefits given to asylum seekers.
The tough new stance follows a direct, hard-hitting appeal from Chancellor Merz to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, urging him to close the borders to young men to stop them dodging the draft.
Germany, which has welcomed over a million Ukrainians, has become increasingly frustrated by the fact that only a paltry 35% of the refugees currently hold a formal job, according to official data.
A staggering number of young Ukrainian men have fled the conflict, and Merz’s government has made it clear they are no longer prepared to subsidise what many Germans now see as draft-dodging.
“We are supporting Ukraine’s fight for freedom, but that fight needs men on the front lines, not on German welfare,” a senior source close to the Chancellor is reported to have said last night.
Under the current system, Ukrainian refugees receive the full ‘Citizen’s Income’ (Bürgergeld), which is a much higher rate of support than that given to other asylum seekers.
The new rules will ensure that anyone arriving after the April 2025 deadline will no longer qualify for the higher payments, effectively reducing the ‘pull factor’ that critics argue encourages reliance on the state rather than finding a job.
’THEY ARE NEEDED THERE’
The move comes days after Merz, who took office in May 2025, made his position crystal clear to the Kyiv leader.
”I asked the Ukrainian president to ensure that young men from Ukraine in particular do not come to Germany in ever-increasing numbers, but rather serve in their own country,” Merz is quoted as saying. “They are needed there.”
The German Chancellor believes that reducing the generous benefits will provide a far stronger “incentive to find employment” and ease the massive financial strain on the German taxpayer.
The bill is expected to spark outrage among human rights groups but will be a huge political win for Merz, whose conservative party has been vocal about the need for tougher immigration and welfare rules.
The message from Berlin is now crystal clear: Come to Germany to work, or go home to fight.
The German government, led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, is set to drastically cut social benefits for Ukrainian refugees who arrive after April 2025.
This controversial move comes as Berlin ramps up pressure on Kyiv to address the number of young, fighting-age men leaving Ukraine, with only a third of all Ukrainian refugees in Germany currently in formal employment.
Merz’s conservative government is facing mounting public and political pressure over the cost of supporting the huge influx of refugees, while Ukraine continues to fight for its survival against Russia.
The new policy is designed to reduce the financial incentive for new arrivals, pushing them towards the job market or, crucially, encouraging young men to return home to bolster Ukraine’s war effort
