Norway assesses security situation in Ukraine and is ready to refuse protection to some refugees again
15 January 09:42
The Norwegian Directorate for Foreigners has reassessed the security situation in Ukraine and, as of January 13, 2025, has recognized several more regions as safe. This means that Ukrainians living in these regions will not be able to receive collective protection. This is reported on the website of the Directorate, Komersant ukrainskyi informs.
As of January 13, 2025, the Norwegian Directorate for Foreigners considers the following regions of Ukraine to be safe: Cherkasy, Chernivtsi, Ivano-Frankivsk, Khmelnytsky, Kirovohrad, Kyiv (region, not city), Lviv, Poltava, Rivne, Ternopil, Vinnytsia, Volyn, Zakarpattia, and Zhytomyr.
As explained by the Directorate, the regions considered safe are mainly those where the Ukrainian authorities are mostly in control of the situation and Russia has no or minimal influence.
Representatives of the Norwegian authorities also assured that they are closely monitoring the situation in Ukraine, and the assessment of which areas are considered safe may change.
Who is affected by these changes
The amendments apply only to persons who have applied for protection since September 28, 2024 and have not received a response to their application for protection by January 13, 2025, as well as to persons who have applied for protection since January 13, 2025.
The changes will not affect persons who applied for protection before September 28, 2024, those who already have a permit and will extend it, as well as persons who arrived in Norway through the Medical Evacuation Program and those whose close family members have been granted collective protection in Norway.
The Directorate for Foreigners also emphasized that if a person applies for protection in Norway and has lived in an area that the Norwegian government considers safe, the application will be considered on an individual basis. But the criteria for individual protection are much stricter than for collective protection.

Why Norway changed the rules for granting protection
on September 27, Norwegian Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mel stated that the Norwegian authorities would no longer automatically grant temporary protection status to all Ukrainian refugees. According to her, Norway cannot accept a disproportionately large share of displaced persons compared to neighboring Northern European countries. The Norwegian government also cited the fact that a significant number of refugees creates an additional burden on the housing stock, healthcare, schools and kindergartens in some cities and communities of the Scandinavian country as one of the reasons for tightening the rules for granting asylum to Ukrainians.
Until September 2024, the Norwegian authorities granted temporary protection status to all Ukrainians without exception, without taking into account which region the applicants came from. Instead, since September, the Norwegian immigration authorities have been considering on an individual basis requests for temporary protection from residents of regions that are considered “safe” by the Norwegian Directorate for Foreigners because they are located far from the front line.
According to the Norwegian authorities, as of September 2024, i.e. over two and a half years, this Scandinavian country with a population of 5.6 million inhabitants has received about 85 thousand Ukrainian refugees.