Simion defends AfD's Weidel over claims Romanians abuse German welfare

Weidel's post and Wagenknecht's remarks

On 28 October, AfD co-chair Alice Weidel wrote on X that a growing number of migrants from Romania were draining Germany's welfare system through child benefits, basic benefits and medical care. Two days later, Sahra Wagenknecht, founder of the BSW party, told Berliner Zeitung that policy should focus more on Bitterfeld than on Bucharest, and that child benefits should not be paid for children who do not live in Germany. Both remarks followed an MDR television report on Romanian citizens living in Magdeburg, first broadcast on 4 November. The programme, whose title translates roughly as labour migration for poverty reasons in the EU and whether the welfare state has reached a dead end, shows luxury cars and palatial homes in Romania. It presents no evidence that the people it features claimed German benefits illegally, and it touches only briefly on German owners of run-down properties who profit from inflated rents.

What the official figures show

A federal government answer to an AfD parliamentary inquiry put 2025 spending on basic benefits at 46.6 billion euros for 5.3 million recipients. The basic benefit, known as Bürgergeld and renamed Grundsicherungsgeld from 1 July 2026, covers subsistence costs, rent, heating and mandatory health insurance. Foreign citizens made up 47.3% of recipients, about 2.5 million people, while 2.8 million (52.7%) held German passports, according to Welt. The share is higher among households with children, where 59.4% (12.20 billion euros) of the 20.54 billion euros paid to families with children under 18 in 2025 went to households whose beneficiary lacked German citizenship. In June 2010 the split had been 70.6% German-only households and 29.4% foreign households.

2010-06

29.4 %

2025

59.4 %

Data from the article text

Most of the money paid to foreign families with children went to refugees from war zones. Ukraine received 3.44 billion euros, Syria 2.20 billion and Afghanistan 1.06 billion, together about 6.69 billion euros, or nearly 55% of benefits paid to foreign families with children. Romanian nationals make up only a small fraction of the total number of recipients.

Ukraine3.44

Syria2.2

Afghanistan1.06

Ukraine

3.44 billion euros

Syria

2.2 billion euros

Afghanistan

1.06 billion euros

Data from the article text

Simion defends Weidel

Speaking to Digi24, George Simion said he considered that Weidel had not offended Romanians, a view reported on 12 November.

“I consider that she did not offend us. A large part of the Romanian press feels offended, but the Romanian press is often more sensitive.”

Simion argued that many Romanians in Germany support both AUR and AfD because both parties promote honest work and opposition to welfare abuse. He acknowledged that some people travel to Magdeburg specifically to claim benefits, but said he does not encourage this and that honest taxpayers should not be grouped with them. Asked whether the AfD representatives AUR invited to Bucharest should apologise, he said he did not think they had reason to. AUR also plans to launch about 55-60 friendship groups with different countries, including a Romania-Germany group, and a Bundestag representative is expected at the event.

Opposition and diaspora criticism

PSD issued a press release on 12 November accusing AUR of turning its back on Romanians abroad for political gain. The party said more than half a million Romanians work in Germany and that its president, Sorin Grindeanu, had asked Weidel to apologise to them. PSD added that AUR had instead sent invitations to AfD leaders to Bucharest.

“It is the same xenophobic mentality that incites social division and the stigmatisation of entire communities.”

PNL diaspora deputy Andreea Cîmpianu, also writing on 12 November, asked AUR to state plainly whether it condemns Weidel's statements. She argued that explaining the reasons for the AfD invitations is not enough.

“AUR must answer a simple question: does it condemn or not the statements of Alice Weidel?”

Rally and safety concerns

AUR's rally in Bucharest is planned for Saturday, 14 November, the same day as the Romania-Poland football match. Cîmpianu cited Gendarmerie assessments warning of concrete risks and said about 3,000 Polish supporters could be in the city centre that day. She urged the organisers to cooperate with the authorities and prevent provocations.

Simion's accusations against President Nicușor Dan

Simion also accused President Nicușor Dan of intervening in the authorisation of the rally, and said Romania was moving toward an authoritarian model of governance. He called the president a chameleon and a despot, and said he was convinced of the intervention based on information from three sources. The interview did not include public evidence for that claim.