Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olga Stefanishyna said that Ukraine is not working with the European Union on the return of Ukrainians who are in the EU under the mechanism of temporary protection, reports Interfax.
On January 25-26, EU migration ministers are holding an informal meeting on migration, AI and responding to drug-related organized crime. At the meeting, in particular, a new protection system for four million Ukrainians in Europe will be discussed.
In this context, Politico, citing two EU diplomats, wrote that Ukraine is allegedly asking to facilitate the return of its citizens to their homes in order to strengthen the economy. As of November 2023, 4.2 million Ukrainians have used the directive on temporary protection — it is valid until March 2025.
"Undoubtedly, there is no direct position of Ukraine that Ukrainians should go back, and therefore any aid to them [by the EU] should be reduced. There is absolutely no such thing," commented Olga Stefanishyna.
According to her, Ukrainians should still be able to get under temporary protection under any conditions and even in the event of an end to the war.
"Another issue is financial payments. Unfortunately, the war continues. We have to decide about the social guarantees that citizens have in each country. But this is not radical communication, not negative. This dialogue [between Ukraine and the EU] continues," the minister said.
The temporary protection of Ukrainians in the EU made it possible not to overload the national asylum systems, and for Ukrainian citizens to live legally in the EU member states that have joined the mechanism, to gain access to the labor market, education, health care system, social security and housing. The full-scale war continues, so the EU countries are discussing current and future options for additional or alternative solutions for the temporary protection of Ukrainian refugees.
- In the summer of 2023, Bloomberg estimated that if 2.8 million refugee women do not return to Ukraine, it will cost 10% of pre-war GDP, or $20 billion per year.