Ukraine puts pressure on EU to help bring refugees back

Ukraine is conducting talks with the European Union to establish EU migration rules that would help ensure that more Ukrainians return home in 2025.

Source: Politico with reference to two EU diplomats familiar with the talks, as reported by European Pravda

Details: In the search for a framework that would encourage Ukrainians to return, Ukrainian representatives are conducting preliminary discussions in order to determine what the EU rules will look like after March 2025, especially if the EU commits to supporting Ukrainian refugees until the end of the war.

Though Kyiv has not made an official request to the EU about facilitating the refugees’ return, the EU diplomats note that there has been pressure from the Ukrainian side to tighten future rules in order to get its citizens back.

One of the diplomats added that at the moment, this is not a specific request by the Ukrainian government, but more exploratory. Both EU diplomats had asked to remain anonymous.

One of the EU diplomats expects pressure from Kyiv to increase after the new mobilisation law is adopted.

EU migration ministers will discuss the rules for Ukrainians’ stay in the EU on Thursday, 25 January.

If the EU member states decide to let Ukrainian refugees stay in the EU until the end of the war, they can ask the European Commission to set up a new protection system.

The current temporary protection directive – the legal basis for the protection of Ukrainians – has been extended twice already.

A European Commission spokesperson stated that "the European Union is ready to support Ukraine and all those fleeing Russian bombs for as long as it takes".

Before the war, Ukraine was home to more than 40 million Ukrainians, but the current population is estimated to be around 35 million. The EU has warned that Ukraine’s population could plummet to less than 29 million over the next 30 years.

As of November 2023, 4.2 million Ukrainians who fled the war to the EU have benefited from the temporary protection directive, which will remain in effect until March 2025.

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