President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced the allocation of the first tranche in the amount of EUR 500 million to help refugees from Ukraine, and announced the decision to grant them the right to reside in the EU for at least a year.
“The EU is providing a first tranche of EUR 500 million to help refugees, and we made sure this week that they get residency rights in the EU for at least a year. Refugees from Ukraine deserve our solidarity and support, and so do the countries that welcome them,” von der Leyen said on Twitter on Saturday.
Ukrainian refugees will have the right to live and work in the European Union for up to three years in accordance with the emergency plan, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine reported.
It is emphasized that more than half [454,000] went to Poland, 116,000 to Hungary, 67,000 to Slovakia, 45,000 to Romania and 79,000 to Moldova, which is not part of the EU. The information notes that refugees from Ukraine already have a 90-day visa-free access to the EU, but “this unprecedented change in EU law guarantees their status after this period.
The European Parliament voted “yes” to a resolution calling on the institutions of the European Union to work towards granting Ukraine the status of an EU candidate, thus recognizing Ukraine’s European perspective.
The corresponding document was voted on Tuesday as part of an extraordinary meeting of the European Parliament. Some 676 voted, of which 637 gave their affirmative votes, 13 were against, and 26 abstained.
The European Parliament calls on the EU institutions to work towards granting Ukraine candidate status for the EU in accordance with Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union and on merit basis, and in the meantime continue to work towards its integration into the EU single market in accordance with the Association Agreement, the resolution says.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has signed an application for Ukraine’s membership in the European Union, Deputy Head of the President’s Office Andriy Sybiha said.
“President of Ukraine Zelensky has signed a historic document – an application for Ukraine’s membership in the European Union,” he said on Facebook.
A joint statement was signed with Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
“Documents are on their way to Brussels! Congratulations, Ukraine, congratulations to all of us! History is being made now!” Sybiha added.
Ukraine expects to receive the first tranche of macro-financial assistance in the amount of EUR 600 million in late March-early April, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko has said.
“The first tranche of such assistance will amount to EUR 600 million and is unconditional. We hope to receive these funds at the end of March or beginning of April this year,” Marchenko said, speaking from the parliament rostrum during an hour of questions to the government on Friday.
“Ukraine will receive the second tranche after the parties approve short-term measures regarding the introduction of structural reforms, which the teams of the European Commission and the Ministry of Finance are currently working on,” the minister added.
He called the allocation of macro-financial assistance to Ukraine unprecedentedly fast.
“The Ministry of Finance is also negotiating with the government of Japan regarding the formation of a mechanism for involving the Japanese international cooperation agency JICA in a new ‘green’ program with the World Bank on a development policy loan, the so-called green DPL,” Serhiy Marchenko said.
He explained that the possibility of attracting from $500 million from the World Bank and up to $300 million from the Japanese government was being discussed.
Earlier, the European Parliament voted in favor of the proposal of the European Commission to provide Ukraine with new macro-financial assistance in the amount of EUR 1.2 billion.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal announces the possibility of signing an Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of industrial products (ACAA) with the European Union, the so-called “industrial visa-free travel” until the end of 2022.
“The interaction of the parties in the framework of the preliminary assessment and regular reports on the implementation of the recommendations provided give us reason to hope for the signing of the ACAA Agreement by the end of 2022,” Shmyhal said at a meeting of the Commission on Coordinating the Implementation of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU on Wednesday.
In addition, according to him, Ukraine expects to join the joint EU transit procedure also in 2022.
In addition, among the priorities of the government is the conclusion of an agreement with the EU on the liberalization of international transit freight traffic.
