Bonn wants to limit the influx of Aussiedler through more difficult language tests

Bonn's intentions to set limits to new arrivals of ethnic Germans from Russia as citizens of the Federal Republic of Germany will have to prepare for more difficult examinations in German for the future.

At the meeting of the Russian Germans (the `Landsmannschaft') in Stuttgart, Horst Waffenschmidt, (CDU), the representative of the Federal Republic of Germany for the Russian Germans announced in his speech on Saturday that knowledge of the German language already mandated for repatriation will be examined much tougher than before. "Aussiedler" speaking excellent German will have a better chance of being permitted to come sooner to Germany. Waffenschmidt also demanded from the "Aussiedler" already living here to make more efforts to improve their knowledge of German.

Moreover, the CDU politician emphasized that new ethnic Germans arriving in Germany must expect a cut in their pensions. Germany has to economize to make ends meet, and therefore pension cannot be granted at their old level.

However, the chairman of the Landsmannschaft, Alois Reiss, criticized these new measures for the pension fund and explained that pensions in Germany are based on a system of give and take. German Russian immigrants have already paid for the pension of their parents by the money they have earned so far, part of which goes into the pensions-funds.

The meeting in Stuttgart had the motto: "Together with us into the future." It was attended by about 45,000 people. According to German statistics 1.8 to 2.0 million ethnic Germans still live in the states of the former Soviet Union, 1.5 million "Aussiedler" have been repatriated in Germany.

Translation by Alice Morgenstern, Munich, Germany
Reprinted with permission of dpa/Reuter, Stuttgart, Germany.