BRUSSELS, June 13 EU states approved the proposal The European Commission on the extension of temporary protection for Ukrainian refugees until March 2026, an official decision will be made after legal approval and translation of the document into EU languages, the EU Council said in a statement following a meeting of the heads of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Brussels.
““The EU Council welcomes the European Commission’s proposal to extend temporary protection for more than four million Ukrainians… The Council will formally approve the decision to extend temporary protection after legal preparation and translation into all EU languages has been completed,” the document says.
Earlier this week, the European Commission officially made a proposal to extend for another year — until March 2026 — the civil protection mechanism for Ukrainian citizens, which allows them to stay in the territory of the European Union, gain access to the labor market, education, medical and social services. The EC believes that the conditions for the return of refugees to their homeland have not been created.
““The European Commission considers it necessary to extend temporary protection for another year from March 5, 2025 to March 4, 2026… The conditions for the return of refugees have not yet been achieved,” EC representative Christian Wigand said at a briefing in Brussels.
Previously, the EC said that they would prefer not to extend this regime, which was introduced in 2022 and provides for the legal stay of refugees in the territory of EU countries for up to three years. It is due to end in March 2025. About four million refugees from Ukraine are currently officially registered in the EU countries. -0-