Brandenburg state parliament sets up U-committee on refugee home

The AfD in the state parliament accuses the Ostprignitz-Ruppin district of problematic business relationships and excessive costs with accommodation to accommodate refugees. She sees the state government as responsible for issuing instructions and supervisory powers.

The exclusion from the investigation is intended, among other things, to clarify to what extent and to what extent the state of Brandenburg has reimbursed costs for the accommodation of refugees from 2014 and according to what standards. Andreas Noack (SPD) will be the chairman of the committee.

The SPD parliamentary group accused the AfD of campaigning. The Parliamentary Managing Director Ludwig Scheetz referred to costs for such a committee of around 600,000 euros. It is therefore permissible to ask whether this money will be used for serious parliamentary control or for an AfD election campaign at the expense of the taxpayer.

The district elections in Ostprignitz-Ruppin are taking place on June 7th. District Administrator Ralf Reinhardt (SPD) is running again. The AfD proposed Torsten Arndt as a deputy member of the state parliament’s investigative committee – but he is also a district administrator candidate for the election on June 7th. Arndt was not elected as a deputy member of the investigative committee, but AfD man Heiko Gehring was elected.

Investigations were stopped

In 2022, the Neuruppin public prosecutor’s office began investigations into the refugee accommodation in Flecken Zechlin near Rheinsberg following allegations against district employees. However, they were discontinued in 2024.

When asked, District Administrator Reinhardt said that it was a matter of political propaganda in the run-up to the district election. Reinhardt also referred to the prosecutor’s discontinuation of the investigation.

According to the constitution, an investigative committee in the Brandenburg state parliament must be set up if a fifth of the MPs request it, currently at least 18 out of 88 MPs. A committee of inquiry serves the opposition to control the government.