Erfurt (dpa/th) – Thuringia’s state government is demanding that the federal government contribute financially to the modernization of vacant apartments to accommodate war refugees from Ukraine. In view of the almost one million Ukrainian war refugees in Germany, the rapid provision of previously unused living space is essential, said Infrastructure Minister Susanna Karawanskij and the head of the State Chancellery, Benjamin-Immanuel Hoff (both left), on Wednesday in Erfurt.
As in 2015/2016, the federal government should make funds available for this. “The Thuringian municipalities and the Thuringian housing industry are rightly demanding appropriate investment financing for the modernization of living space,” said Hoff. In Free State alone, around 3,000 additional residential units could be made available within a very short period of time. Infrastructure Minister Karawanskij demanded that the program “Special Funding for Refugee Accommodation”, which is being used heavily, be increased by a further 250 million euros.