LONDON, January 22. /TASS/. Ukrainian refugees living in Germany will have to leave the country and return to their homeland after the conflict ends, Alice Weidel, co-chair of the Alternative for Germany (AfD for "Alternative fur Deutschland") party, said in an interview with the Financial Times.
"It’s clear that when the war ends, all Ukrainians will have to go home. They will be needed anyway to help rebuild their country," she said. In Weidel’s opinion, refugees from Ukraine have no long-term future in Germany, and it was a mistake to provide them with welfare benefits.
Earlier, Ukrainian Deputy Economy Minister Taras Kachka said that Berlin and Kiev were at an early stage of negotiations on programs to help the refugees return home. Germany has received about one million Ukrainian citizens as refugees.
AfD is perhaps the only party among Germany’s leading political forces that favors lifting anti-Russian sanctions and finding ways to resolve the conflict in Ukraine that would involve Moscow in the negotiations. Moreover, AfD does not support arms supplies to Kiev. Last year, the party’s co-leader, Tino Chrupalla, attended a reception at the Russian embassy in Germany to mark the anniversary of Victory Day on May 9. The AfD party believes that long-term peace in Europe is only possible if Russia participates in creating the continent’s common security architecture.