A number of foreign leaders wanted to keep Ukrainian refugees who have found jobs and pay taxes in their countries, but return to Ukraine those who are recipients of social assistance, while Ukraine is interested in returning everyone – both those who work and those who do not, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
“They (some foreign leaders – IF-U) themselves differentiated Ukrainians. I’m sorry, but this is how it is – I have all these conversations with them. They count their money, how much they spend annually to support Ukrainians abroad, but those Ukrainians who do not work – they say: you take them away,” he said in an interview with the National Telethon on Thursday evening.
Zelenskiy noted that these leaders and representatives of foreign governments are afraid to publicly voice this position.
“But I will return everyone, not (only) those who do not work for you,” Zelensky emphasized.
He noted that he is asking his partners for “a little more air defense,” and then he is ready to call all Ukrainian refugees to return.
According to the president, after the hot phase of the war is over, a large number of people will want to return. This will be facilitated by the large-scale reconstruction of Ukraine, which will “receive a lot of money”: from business, from frozen Russian assets, from the budget, which will reduce military spending.
“People will come to work… Large projects like the restoration of Ukraine will be supported by a large number of jobs. It is desirable that these are Ukrainians, I think, first of all, they will be Ukrainians,” Zelensky emphasized.
According to updated UNHCR data, the number of Ukrainian refugees in Europe as of December 16 this year was estimated at 6.254 million, and in the world as a whole – at 6.814 million, which is 28 thousand more than on November 18 this year.
According to Eurostat, as of October 31, 2024, 4.2 million citizens who fled Ukraine as a result of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, had temporary protection status in the EU. Germany remains the country with the largest number of refugees from Ukraine in the EU and the world by a growing margin – 1 million 140.71 thousand at the end of October, or 27.2% of the total number of beneficiaries in the EU. The top three also includes Poland – 983.88 thousand, or 23.4%, and the Czech Republic – 379.37 thousand, or 9.0%. This is followed by Spain (221.90 thousand), Romania (175.31 thousand), and Italy (165.68 thousand).
