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"No longer feasible or only feasible to a very limited extent": German course by the Goethe-Institut for immigrant doctors
Photo: Patrick Seeger / picture alliance / dpa
The budget cuts planned by the Federal Foreign Office are threatening thousands of scholarships and funding programs at internationally active cultural and scientific organizations.
For example, the Goethe-Institut has to be prepared for a minus of at least 17 million euros in 2022.
"The level that is currently in the room would hit the mediators of foreign cultural policy disproportionately hard," says an internal analysis of the Goethe-Institut, which is available to SPIEGEL: The effects on the program for immigration of skilled workers are "serious", many offers “can no longer be realized this year or only to a very limited extent”.
Accordingly, the planned cuts call into question the linguistic and cultural qualifications of up to 45,000 specialists over the next three years.
According to the analysis, further training grants for up to 4,500 teachers worldwide would have to be “stopped immediately”, as well as 6,000 events to support children and young people.
International cultural policy out of self-interest
“We are firmly convinced that foreign cultural and educational policy plays a crucial role, especially in this time of international crises and new bloc formations,” states the Goethe-Institut.
Like few other countries, Germany is politically, economically and culturally embedded in global contexts and must also assume international responsibility in its own interest.
But that is only possible with sufficient funding.
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Due to funding cuts: DAAD announces cancellation of thousands of scholarships
The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) had previously warned of the loss of around 6,000 scholarships for students and young scientists.
According to the cabinet's budget resolution, the DAAD will have to make do with nine million euros less this year, and next year a further four million euros should go.
The cuts "will significantly reduce our funding opportunities for universities, students and scientists for years to come," said President Joybrato Mukherjee.
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, which promotes the international exchange of top researchers, would also have to make significant cuts compared to the previous year and could no longer award almost a third of its fellowships.
The foundation is also currently preparing the complete discontinuation of several programs: Research awards for humanities scholars and German-African cooperation projects are affected.
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