During the handover, Lord Mayor Frank Klingebiel, who is also President of the Association of Cities and Towns of Lower Saxony, explained: "Since the outbreak of the war waged by Russia in violation of international law, Salzgitter has once again become a place of refuge for around 1,250 refugees from the attacked Ukraine. Together with the ongoing integration of people who have fled from other countries and found a new home here in Salzgitter, this has presented and continues to present us with enormous challenges. As a result, integration is currently an ever-increasing and permanent Herculean task that we can only accomplish together as a city and urban society with financial support from the state. I am therefore delighted that we are also able to use the funding from the integration fund to realize the Brotweg daycare centre, an important construction project, and to continue ongoing projects such as street work, office work and language support. At the same time, I would like to point out that financial support from the federal government and the state of Lower Saxony must be significantly increased in light of the large number of refugees from Ukraine. It is important that we as municipalities remain capable of acting and can thus ensure cohesion and social peace in our urban society."
Astrid Paus, head of the department responsible for the integration fund at the Office for Regional State Development, emphasized at the handover of the grants: "I am very pleased that the successful integration work of the city of Salzgitter can be continued with the support of the state's funding. The funding also reaches children and young people in particular and therefore starts where the foundations for good integration are laid. In this way, not only places of care or joint activities are created, but also places of cultural togetherness, participation, getting to know each other and the development of a sense of togetherness, which have an impact on urban society."
