The number of refugees from Ukraine registered for temporary protection or similar national protection schemes in Europe stood at 3.207 million as of June 16, 2022, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported on its website.
Compared to the June 1 data, the increase was almost 0.5 million, including 0.2 million in the last week, significantly contributed by data updates in Germany, France and the UK.
According to UNHCR data collected from national governments, the largest number of refugees with temporary protection status in Poland is 1 million 169.5 thousand, while 4,166 arrived in the country from Ukraine, according to the Polish border service, from the beginning of the war to June 18 million people, and 2.195 million went to Ukraine in the opposite direction.
Following are Germany and the Czech Republic, where the number of refugees registered for temporary protection from Ukraine amounted to 641.39 thousand and 373.82 thousand, respectively.
The UN, referring to government data, indicates that in total in Germany, where Ukrainians are allowed to stay without registration until the end of August, 780,000 refugees from Ukraine were recorded. Based on the data presented, a significant proportion of them have not yet applied for temporary protection status in that country.
In the Czech Republic, the situation, according to UN information, is different: almost all arrivals applied for protection status – 373.82 thousand out of 373.97 thousand.
In the vast majority of other countries, the picture is similar to the Czech Republic: the statistics of registered refugees is completely or almost equal to the statistics of those who applied for protection status, which is probably due to the peculiarity of their registration. An exception, similar to Germany, is only Romania – 37.83 thousand with the status of 90.3 thousand refugees registered in the country, Estonia – 27.49 thousand out of 42.26 thousand and Italy – 97.31 thousand out of 129 .62 thousand
In addition to Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany and Italy, more than 50 thousand refugees from Ukraine have also registered for the status of temporary protection in Spain – 119.74 thousand, France – 87.97 thousand, Slovakia – 78.11 thousand (out of 270 thousand). net inflow across the border since the beginning of the war), Austria – 71.83 thousand, Great Britain – 70.5 thousand, the Netherlands – 64.48 thousand and Switzerland – 55.92 thousand.
At the same time, in Lithuania, the number of refugees with temporary protection status decreased from 53.89 thousand to 46.55 thousand over the week.
Next come Belgium – 46.85 thousand, Portugal – 42.15 thousand, Sweden – 38.05 thousand, Ireland – 36.91, Denmark – 28.29 thousand, Latvia – 26.8 thousand and Finland – 26.75 thousand, as well as the above-mentioned Romania and Estonia.
From 10 to 25 thousand refugees from Ukraine with the status of temporary protection in Hungary – 24.45 thousand, Norway – 18.51 thousand, Greece – 14.89 thousand, Croatia – 14.26 thousand and Cyprus – 13 .05 thousand
In addition, the UN statistics on those who received the status of temporary protection include Ukrainian refugees in Slovenia – 7.1 thousand, Luxembourg – 5.25 thousand, Montenegro – 3.98 thousand, Iceland – 0.9 thousand, Malta – 0 .92 thousand, in Serbia and Kosovo – 0.75 thousand and Liechtenstein – 0.22 thousand.
In addition, the table contains data from Bulgaria, possibly entered with an error: according to them, 79.2 thousand refugees from Ukraine were recorded there, but 114.88 thousand received protection status.
The UN also indicated the countries in which refugees from Ukraine were recorded, but there is no data on their obtaining status: Moldova – 85.5 thousand, Georgia – 20.39 thousand, Azerbaijan – 4.84 thousand, Albania – 1.53 thousand, North Macedonia – 1.21 thousand, Armenia – 0.49 thousand and Bosnia and Herzegovina – 0.33 thousand.
Turkey, where 145,000 refugees from Ukraine were listed a week ago, is now excluded from the data.
Separately, it is worth mentioning Russia and Belarus, the Ukrainian border with which, respectively, 1 million 230.8 thousand and 16.66 thousand people crossed. The UN information indicates that in the Russian Federation all those who crossed the border were recorded, while in Belarus – 9.01 thousand. There is no data on any status of these people, as well as data on crossing the border of Ukraine in the opposite direction.
The Verkhovna Rada has simplified the mechanism for financing the current activities of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation (UKF) and its experts during martial law.
The adoption of the relevant bill No. 7417 as a basis and in general was supported by 313 people’s deputies at the plenary session on Sunday, Yaroslav Zheleznyak, a member of the Voice faction, said in his telegram channel.
According to the explanatory note, in connection with the introduction of martial law in Ukraine, the fund’s expenses in 2022 were reduced by 90%. The authors of the document note that the bill provides for the removal of the current restriction on financing the activities of the UKF in 16% of the annual income of the fund.
This will ensure the proper organization and stabilization of the activities of the UKF, will prevent the dismissal of employees and a complete halt in the activities of the fund, which plays an important role in the development of culture and creative industries in Ukraine. In particular, it is required to simplify the mechanism for financing the current activities and logistics of the UKF, the activities of its expert councils during martial law.
FINANCING MECHANISM, PARLIAMENT, UKRAINIAN CULTURAL FOUNDATION
Since Monday morning, June 20, vehicular traffic has resumed on the Metro and Paton bridges in Kyiv, Mayor of the capital Vitaliy Klitschko said.
“Darnitsky, Severny, Yuzhny, Metro and Patona will operate for auto communication between the left and right banks of the capital. The city authorities will additionally inform about the organization of public transport, taking into account the resumption of traffic on bridges,” he wrote in the Telegram channel.
Klitschko also called on drivers to comply with traffic rules, speed limits, and give preference to ambulances, police cars, rescuers and humanitarian aid vehicles.
BRIDGES, CAR TRAFFIC, KYIV, METRO, ПАТОН
The Ifop Public Opinion Institute predicts that the presidential coalition “Together!” comes out in the second round of parliamentary elections with a result of 210-250 mandates, which means first place and the loss of an absolute majority in the National Assembly.
The presidential team’s main competitor, the left-wing New People’s Ecological and Social Union (Nupes), led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, comes in second with 150-180 seats in the lower house of parliament, as expected.
The media called the expected result of Marine Le Pen’s “National Rally” a big breakthrough. The French nationalists will have 80 to 100 seats, which will allow them to form their own political faction in the National Assembly.
The centre-right “Republicans” are predicted to receive 60 to 70 seats.
The French elected 577 deputies. For an absolute majority, it was necessary to win 289 seats in the National Assembly.
In the first round a week ago, Macron’s “Together” coalition finished almost on a par with the New People’s Ecological and Social Union (Nupes), led by leftist Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
The authorized representative of the Servant of the People faction, Lyubov Shpak, addressed President Volodymyr Zelensky and the government from the rostrum of the parliament with a proposal to immediately hold talks with international partners on writing off Ukraine’s public debt.
“The economic losses of our country daily amount to $1 billion a day… Therefore, we appeal to the President and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine with a position to urgently transfer negotiations with all foreign partners on loan obligations to review and write off our debts,” she said during sittings of Parliament on Sunday, presenting the position of the faction.
Shpak in her speech stressed that the current situation is a typical force majeure for our country.
Earlier, the head of the Ministry of Finance, Sergei Marchenko, repeatedly called the issues of restructuring and writing off debts inappropriate. According to him, Ukraine plans to continue servicing its debt obligations, and from time to time sounding proposals for restructuring the state debt may harm plans. The Minister of Finance stressed that this issue is quite sensitive: “You can take advantage of the moment, but in the future it will hurt us a lot.
New risks arise as the world community faces well-known challenges such as the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, economic instability and a drop in trust in established social institutions, according to the Swiss Re SONAR report on the company’s 10th anniversary.
“We live in a world where billionaires can make day trips into the stratosphere, cryptoassets defy established financial norms, and climate change is changing the very nature of our physical environment,” emphasizes a press release published on the website of the international reinsurer.
A global pandemic, geopolitical conflicts, rising inflation and an ongoing climate crisis are just a few of the many risks that SONAR has explored over the past decade and that eventually materialized, according to Swiss Re Risk Group Director Patrick Raaflaub. However, the study of new risks is not forecasting. This is about raising awareness of the risks that may affect society, and about the appropriate preparation, the report says.
At the same time, it is noted that crypto assets and quantum computing create new risks in the global financial system.
In the current financial system, heavily dependent on technology, cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ether have established themselves as potential competitors to traditional currencies. Along with these new forms of currency, other crypto assets have emerged. Tokens, for example, allow people to buy digital images of real assets, such as art or real estate. They can be sold and give their owner access to assets, products or services. Changing ownership, taxation, regulatory issues and other risks associated with new asset classes pose new questions for insurers. For example, are certain crypto assets subject to existing ownership or cyber security policies?
The security of the new digital financial economy also faces new risks. In particular, thanks to quantum computing, a new generation of computers is on the verge of performing tasks that are inaccessible to modern machines. These ultra-intelligent technologies offer significant benefits: sophisticated weather modeling, advanced medical research and financial analysis. As they mature, they can also become a threat to existing IT security protocols, potentially breaking standard encryption keys used in online communications and data transmission, the report notes.
In addition, a new generation of emerging risks is linked to climate change, the company points out.
“Swiss Re identified the threat of climate change back in 1979. More than 40 years later, the effects of climate risks are being felt very strongly in our daily lives. Beyond what we already see, climate change is creating a new generation of emerging risks,” the paper emphasizes.
This year’s SONAR report explores how melting permafrost that covers a quarter of the northern hemisphere could not only damage infrastructure and accelerate climate change, but also release disease-causing pathogens that have been frozen for decades.
In addition, agriculture is particularly sensitive to climate change and is struggling to reduce its contribution to global warming. Emissions from global food production account for about 31% of total anthropogenic carbon emissions. The challenge for agriculture is to increase productivity and feed more people while reducing emissions. Insurers can play a vital role in the faster adoption and scaling up of sustainable farming practices by offering suitable risk coverage solutions and promoting climate-smart and regenerative agriculture, says Swiss Re.
“There was a time when today’s big issues such as climate change, the pandemic, geopolitical conflict and inflation were new risks in their own right. The 10th anniversary edition of SONAR is a poignant reminder of the long-term potential of emerging risks and how insurance the industry helps to increase the resilience of society,” the report says.
Swiss Re Group is one of the world’s leading providers of reinsurance, insurance and other forms of insurance-based risk transfer.
