The left-wing parliamentary group in the Saxon state parliament is pushing for the federal government to cover the costs of GDR supplementary and special pensions. In a statement, the parliamentary group criticized the fact that these pensions are still largely financed by the eastern federal states.
"Saxony had to spend 758 million euros on GDR pensions in 2024, while the eastern states as a whole incurred costs of 2.68 billion euros." In Saxony alone, over one and a half billion euros are currently being negotiated in parliament.
Schaper: Relieve the states and give them leeway for their budgets
According to parliamentary group leader Susanne Schaper, it is "high time to relieve the states of these expenses and give them leeway for their budgets". The issue of supplementary and special pensions is of great importance to the federal states and the claims of hundreds of thousands of people must be met.
Schaper spoke of a "scandal" that the eastern federal states still had to shoulder such a large burden. "The federal government is responsible for pensions," she said, pointing out that the GDR supplementary and special pension schemes were transferred to the statutory pension insurance scheme when the Unification Treaty came into force.
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