Next week, EU diplomats will discuss the possibility of another extension of temporary protection for Ukrainians, as well as its conditions – in particular, who and to what extent it will cover. Currently, about 4.35 million Ukrainians enjoy temporary protection in the EU. Most of all – in Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic.
The European Union is considering the possibility of extending temporary protection for Ukrainians for another year, which could make this program six years, Euractiv reports, informs the portal PromPolitInform.
We are talking about the Directive on temporary protection, which was introduced in March 2022 after the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation. It allowed millions of Ukrainians to legally live and work in the EU without overloading the asylum system.
According to the publication, next week EU diplomats will discuss the possibility of another extension, as well as its conditions – in particular, who exactly and to what extent it will cover.
The European Commission’s special envoy on vaccines to the EU, Ylva Johansson, said that “five years is enough for temporary protection” and if extended, the program should change format, and not just act in its current form.
At the same time, EU countries are increasingly paying attention to the slow and uneven transition of refugees to a more stable legal status. In internal documents, it is noted that the number of such transitions remains low, and the possibilities of obtaining other statuses differ significantly between states.
Some countries are already developing mechanisms for withdrawing from temporary protection, but many states still do not have clear procedures.
Among the options being discussed is the transformation of the current system into a more limited format, in fact, “residual status” for the most vulnerable categories or those who cannot obtain another legal status.
At the same time, this approach causes discussions on whether the decision should be made at the EU level or remain the competence of individual states.
Recall that more than 4 million Ukrainians have temporary protection in the EU, in particular, most of them in Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic.
Photo – from open sources
