Additional funds requested from the EU for the accommodation and integration of Ukrainian refugees
Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic are requesting additional funds from the EU for the accommodation and integration of Ukrainian refugees. Their three countries have taken in more than half of the Ukrainian asylum seekers who have entered the EU, as argued by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in a joint letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, obtained by the German Press Agency.
"The capacities of our countries are overburdened," it reads. The costs of accepting refugees are not being evenly distributed. A significant additional financial support from the EU budget is "necessary for the particularly affected member states to adequately consider the costs for the acceptance, accommodation, and care of refugees from Ukraine."
Scholz emphasized in a statement that countries taking in fewer refugees should financially support those doing so. "I have also written this to the Commission President together with my colleagues from Poland and the Czech Republic, and we will also discuss it."
- The Czech Republic, like Poland and Germany, is calling for additional EU funds to manage the integration and housing of Ukrainian refugees, acknowledging that their national capacities have been significantly stretched.
- The joint letter from Chancellor Scholz, Prime Minister Fiala, and Prime Minister Tusk to EU President von der Leyen highlights the need for additional financial support from the EU budget, as the three countries have shoulder-duty more than half of the Ukrainian asylum seekers.
- In response to the financial strain, Germany proposed that nations accepting fewer refugees provide financial assistance to those countries taking in a larger number, such as Poland and the Czech Republic, to aid in the provision of accommodation and integration services.
- The EU should provide substantial additional financial support to Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic, as these member states have been at the forefront of accommodating and integrating Ukrainian refugees, ensuring equitable allocation of the costs involved.
