The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Czech Republic: Ukrainians will be allowed to return to the EU for the winter

Ukrainian refugees who have temporary protection in the European Union and have returned to Ukraine can return to the EU for the winter.

This was stated by the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Czech Republic Vit Rakushan, reports Ceske Noviny.

"If someone left Ukraine, lives in Ukraine, has already received temporary protection in one of the EU countries, he has the right to return to the EU, if conditions do not allow him to stay in Ukraine for the winter," the minister noted.

According to him, about 4.3 million refugees arrived in the EU since the beginning of the war. A fifth of them have already returned home. The minister predicts that with the beginning of winter, the number of refugees in the European Union may increase to 5 million.

• The EU provides temporary protection to Ukrainians until the end of March 2023, but member states can extend the protection for another year.
• The Czech Republic has granted more than 450 000 protective visas to Ukrainians. According to Rakushan, 20% of their recipients returned to Ukraine.