BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – In view of the budget crisis, associations fear that many democracy projects will come to an end on January 1st. The non-passed 2024 budget and the current block on future spending threatened the existence of the landscape of democracy projects that had been painstakingly built up over 20 years, the Federal Working Group for Democracy Development announced on Friday. If there is not a solution by Christmas at the latest, competence networks, advice centers and model projects would have to stop working at the turn of the year. According to the statement, Timo Reinfrank, managing director of the Amadeu Antonio Foundation, warned of irreparable damage to the democratic project landscape.
For example, counseling services for victims of right-wing violence and those affected by anti-Semitism or nationwide competence networks for educational and networking work on racism and discrimination are about to come to an end – such projects currently have no funding commitments from the responsible Federal Ministry for Family Affairs as of January 1, 2024. A so-called early start to the measure, which would guarantee the sponsors the funding even if payment is made later and thus ensure solvency, cannot be granted. The carriers would inevitably have to suspend their measures. “This means that employment contracts expire or have to be terminated.” Therefore, an early start to measures for the providers in the federal programs must be approved before Christmas
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) and Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) have been struggling for days about how a 17 billion euro hole in the 2024 budget can be plugged. It was created, among other things, by the budget ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court. The SPD parliamentary group leadership no longer believes a Bundestag resolution on the 2024 budget is possible this year./hoe/DP/mis