EU braces for new wave of refugees from Ukraine as US aid to Kyiv falters, Politico says
Pravda Ukraine
The threat of an escalation of the war in Ukraine and the withdrawal of US military support are forcing the European Union to prepare for a new surge in Ukrainian refugees.
Source: Politico, a Brussels-based politics and policy news organisation
Details: Politico says European countries are preparing for a possible significant increase in the number of Ukrainian refugees if the war in Ukraine escalates and US aid is cut off.
“If Putin escalates this war even further and the American support should disappear, and if this should lead to a larger refugee movement … we need a binding distribution of the Ukraine refugees throughout the EU, according to a fair mechanism,” German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser commented.
Faeser stressed, however, that she does not currently expect a major new influx of refugees and that this is “just a scenario” that ministers should discuss. “Germany will stand by Ukraine as long as Putin’s terrible attack against Ukraine continues,” she emphasised.
Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner, commenting on the possibility of a new wave of refugees, said that his country “has made its contribution” and would now be focusing on integrating the people already there.
“Per capita, Austria has clearly taken in more [refugees] than many other countries,” Karner told reporters.
In December last year, more than 4.3 million Ukrainians were under temporary protection in European countries, according to Eurostat, the EU Commission’s statistics agency. Germany, Poland and Czechia took in the most refugees.
Background: On 5 March, the EU’s Justice and Home Affairs Council approved a position paper on the phased launch of a new digital border management system which will collect biometric data from third-country nationals entering the EU.
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