European Union interior ministers meet today to consider European Commission proposal for massive temporary protection to refugees who fled Ukraine because of the war.
“Everyone who fled to escape Putin’s bombings is welcome in Europe,” said Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a press release issued by her services.
Home Affairs Commissioner Elva Johnson first announced the proposal to the emergency Home Affairs Council on Sunday, three days after Vladimir Putin ordered his generals to invade Ukraine.
The proposal provides for refugees from Ukraine to be allowed to apply for temporary protection in any EU Member State. This protection will initially be valid for one year, but may be extended for another two years if a decision is taken by the Member States for this.
The directive will also allow EU border controls on refugees from Ukraine to be relaxed, so that they can be removed more quickly and easily.
The technical work can proceed “very fast” for the implementation of the Commission proposal if there is an agreement in the current Council of Ministers, noted a European diplomat.
The Temporary Protection Directive was drafted after the break-up of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. But it was never enacted.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has displaced more than a million people in a week, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grady said earlier today.
Among the EU Member States that have received large numbers of refugees from Ukraine are Hungary, Slovakia and Romania.
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