The Council of the European Union decided to extend the temporary protection of Ukrainian refugees until March 4, 2026 — this applies to more than four million Ukrainians.
The press service of the Council writes about it.
The temporary protection mechanism was launched on March 4, 2022, a few days after Russiaʼs full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and was supposed to operate until March 4, 2025. Now it has been extended for another year.
The temporary protection of Ukrainians in the EU made it possible not to overload national asylum systems, and for Ukrainian citizens to live legally in 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.