The Council of the European Union will take a political decision to extend the temporary protection mechanism for Ukrainian refugees in EU countries for another year, until March 2027.
This was announced on Friday in Luxembourg by European Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner upon his arrival at the EU Council meeting on home affairs. “Today, we are continuing temporary protection for Ukrainian citizens, but we are also discussing the way forward, a roadmap, because Ukrainians desperately need their people to return to rebuild their country, and that is what we are working on,” he said.
The European Commissioner also noted that Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov will take part in the meeting at the invitation of the European side. “I am very pleased that he accepted my invitation to come here today, because it is always important not just to talk about Ukraine, but to talk to Ukraine and talk with them, that is important,” Brunner stressed.
Upon arriving at the EU Council meeting, Ukrainian Minister for National Unity Oleksiy Chernyshov called his participation “unique” and said that the ministers would discuss “the cooperation and support that the European Union is providing to Ukraine right now.” “We have been informed about the extension of temporary protection status for Ukrainian refugees for another year, until March 2027. It is very important to provide these people with clarity regarding their life plans and their safety. And we are very grateful to the European Union for this very important and timely decision,” he stressed.
Chernyshov said that due to Russian terror and deliberate attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, ”the situation remains very dramatic.” “Today, we have the full support of the interior ministers of European countries,” the Ukrainian minister said.
He also noted the importance of working with Ukrainians in Europe. ”We currently have about 5 million Ukrainians under temporary protection who left Ukraine after the start of the full-scale invasion. And this number is growing. Sixty percent of them are in Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic. Germany is the country that has taken in the most Ukrainians, more than 1.2 million people. It is important that we are prepared to voluntarily return some or most of the Ukrainians after the war ends and stable peace is established. We are preparing special centers in the capitals of European Union countries — “unity hubs” — which will provide professional services both to Ukrainians who are considering returning home voluntarily after peace is achieved and to those who decide to integrate into European Union countries,” Chernyshov said.
As previously reported, the European Commission had put forward a proposal to extend the temporary protection mechanism for Ukrainians who were forced to leave the country due to Russia’s war against Ukraine.
