EU countries have received additional funds as a result of a targeted call for proposals to help countries reduce migration pressure and provide newly arrived Ukrainians with the necessary support, services and assistance.
The EU supports Ukrainian refugees
Last week, the European Commission decided to allocate more than €65 million from the Migration and Asylum Integration Fund to support Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania in hosting people fleeing Russian aggression against Ukraine.
The European Commission announced this on December 18.
EU countries have received additional funds as a result of a targeted call for proposals to help countries reduce migration pressure and provide newly arrived Ukrainians with the necessary support, services and assistance.
Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania can use EU funding to help newly arrived Ukrainians find housing, language and vocational training, and access to social and health services.
Funding will be provided in accordance with the monitoring and control systems provided for by the EU financial system, the statement said.
The European Commission recalled that EU countries have hosted more than 4.1 million Ukrainians benefiting from temporary protection, which was first introduced shortly after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine and has now been extended until March 2025.
As reported, according to the Federal Statistical Office of Germany, Ukrainians account for 8% of asylum seekers receiving assistance in Germany.
The EC proposes to extend the protection of Ukrainians in the EU
The European Commission notes that this step will provide certainty and support for more than 4 million people using protection across the EU.
This Commission proposal must now be adopted by the EU Council.
As a reminder, the EU activated the Temporary Protection Directive on 4 March 2022 by unanimous decision of the Member States.
The European Commission considers that the reasons for temporary protection remain and that temporary protection should therefore be extended as a necessary response to the current volatile situation, which is not yet conducive to the safe and sustainable return of persons using temporary protection to Europe.
"The European Union will stand by Ukraine for as long as it takes - a solidarity that has been embodied in the granting of immediate protection status to all those fleeing Russia's war. Today, as the war continues, we ask Member States to come together again and extend temporary protection for another year," said Margaritis Schinas, the EU Vice-President of the European Commission.
