EU interior ministers are to meet on Thursday to seek political agreement on a European Commission proposal to offer mass protection to refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine.
“All those fleeing Putin’s bombs are welcome in Europe,” commission president Ursula von der Leyen said in a press release on Wednesday announcing the move. EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson first announced the proposal at a crisis meeting of EU interior ministers on Sunday, three days after Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine.
The proposal is temporary directive to allow refugees from Ukraine to apply for protection status in any EU member state. The right to asylum is to remain. The protection status is to remain valid for one year but could be extended for further for two years depending on a decision from the EU member states.
The directive also allows for controls on EU member states’ to be relaxed to make evacuations easier.
Technical work could move forward “very quickly” on the proposal to allow EU member states to use the measures if EU interior ministers reach agreement, an EU diplomat said.
The directive was designed in the aftermath of the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s but never used. Russia’s invasion is estimated to have displaced more than 870,000 people from Ukraine, with the majority of refugees, more than 450,000, in Poland, according to UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.
Other EU member states hosting large numbers of refugees are Hungary, Slovakia, and Romania.
