2024-06-27 21:44 update: 2024-06-29, 16:12
Photo PAP/Darek Delmanowicz
Prime ministers of Poland, Germany, and Czech Republic, in a letter to European Commission President Ursula van der Leyen, have appealed for additional funding to cover the cost of hosting Ukrainian refugees.
In a letter dated June 26, Prime Minister Donald Tusk and his German and Czech counterparts, Olaf Scholz and Petr Fiala, respectively, wrote that member states face 'uneven challenges' as Ukrainians fleeing war "reside predominantly and in large numbers in just a few member states."
"Our countries' capacities are strained: more than 50% of Ukrainian refugees who have entered the European Union live in Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic," the letter wrote, adding that it is "also evident in relation to the respective size of the population.”
According to the leaders, member states particularly affected by the situation require “an additional and — in relation to actual expenses — substantial financial support from the existing funds" for 2021-2027 "to adequately reflect the expenses of taking in, housing and providing for refugees from Ukraine.”
Eurostat data showed that, at the end of April, there were almost 4.2 million Ukrainians under temporary protection in the EU, over 950,000 in Poland.
In the wake of Russian aggression in 2022, the EU unlocked funds to help people escaping the war in Ukraine for member states hosting refugees. This week, the regulations were extended until March 2024. (PAP)
aj/mf
