German ministers clash over cuts to democracy funding program
Senior officials from all federal ministries met Monday morning at the initiative of Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) and Education Minister Karin Prien (CDU) at the Federal Interior Ministry to discuss the future of democracy promotion under the center-right coalition government. The Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (Tuesday edition) reported the meeting, citing SPD sources.
The gathering was prompted by controversy over Prien's proposed overhaul of the "Demokratie leben" (Living Democracy) funding program, which would defund many existing projects. According to the report, the meeting established an interministerial working group to seek solutions to the dispute.
Prien's plan had faced criticism not only from affected stakeholders but also from the coalition's Social Democratic (SPD) partner. The federal government's commissioner for eastern Germany, Elisabeth Kaiser (SPD), who also attended the meeting, defended the initiatives at risk. "People who work on the ground to strengthen our democracy need our support and reliable prospects—otherwise, they will give up," she told the newspapers. "I stand behind the participants in this program."
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