Romanians, Bulgarians Accused of Abusing German Child Benefits

Claims that Bulgarian and Romanian 'economic refugees' are abusing the German child welfare system by claiming benefits for children who live outside the country have attracted criticism from the Romanian Foreign Ministry.

Soren Link, the mayor of the western German city of Duisburg, accused the Berlin government of "sleeping through the problem".

"They have to finally do something about the fact that there are poverty refugees in Europe," Link told the German Press Agency, DPA on Thursday, according to TheLocal.de.

Link said that the number of Bulgarian and Romanian nationals in his city had jumped from 6,000 in 2012 to 19,000 in 2017 and claimed that smugglers had brought in Sinti and Roma people to abuse the welfare system.

"I have to deal with people here who are spreading rubbish in the streets and exacerbating problems with rats," he was quoted as saying by TheLocal.de.

However his claims contrast with statistics which show that only 2,000 more Romanians claimed benefits in Duisburg in 2017, far fewer than the increased number of Polish and Czech claimants.

BIRN asked Link's office for a comment, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Romania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs argued on Thursday that people working in any EU country have the right to that country's social benefits for their children, regardless of where the children actually live.

"European Union members oblige member states to ensure a fair, equal treatment and avoid any discrimination against all European citizens," the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry stressed that the EU treaty, as well as EU court jurisprudence, envisages that EU citizens have the right to settle and work in any other member state and that...