Stefanishyna: Ukraine did not call to cut payments to refugees abroad
26 January 2024 11:38
The Ukrainian authorities are not putting any pressure on their partners to return Ukrainians from abroad, and certainly not calling on them to reduce payments to Ukrainian refugees for this purpose. This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna, reports 
with reference to Radio Liberty.
Stefanishyna denies this information.
“This is a very difficult issue to discuss. And here we cannot do without appeals. It is definitely not the direct position of Ukraine that Ukrainians should go back and therefore any assistance to them should be reduced – absolutely not. This is an ongoing discussion,”
– she said.
Moreover, Ukraine’s position is that Ukrainians in the EU “should have the right to temporary protection”.
“That is, the very possibility of having temporary protection should remain under any conditions in 2025 and beyond. The other issue is financial payments, as we are talking about a fairly long time. Unfortunately, the war continues. It has been going on for almost two and a half years, and, accordingly, this is a certain milestone for states. Therefore, we have to decide on the financial and social guarantees that citizens have in each country. But this is not a radical communication, not negative. This dialogue is ongoing, and it has been so since the beginning of the war,”
– the Vice Prime Minister added.
Background to the issue
The day before, Politico wrote about some pressure exerted by the Ukrainian authorities on European countries to return Ukrainian refugees home. Anonymous EU diplomats allegedly reported that Ukraine was urging its European partners to create tougher conditions for Ukrainians to facilitate their return to Ukraine.
A few days earlier, in an interview with the Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger, advisor to the head of the Presidential Office Serhiy Leshchenko said that “host countries should stop supporting refugees so that they can return home”.
