Estonia supports extension of temporary protection for refugees

On Tuesday, the Estonian Parliament's Commission on European Union Affairs supported Estonia's position for the EU Council on Justice and Home Affairs, according to which the country supports the extension of temporary protection for Ukrainians until March 2025.

This is reported by ERR.

Commission Chairperson Liza Pacosta noted that Russia continues to wage war against Ukraine, many homes and workplaces in the country have been destroyed, and civilians continue to be killed. For this reason, war refugees still need comprehensive support.

"Many cannot return home because their home no longer exists or because they have to spend every night in a bomb shelter. The Riigikogu has decided to extend temporary protection for Ukrainian war refugees, which will allow each Ukrainian family to decide for themselves whether they need temporary protection and when they can return home because first of all, new houses need to be built, new jobs need to be created, and even entire settlements need to be rebuilt," said Pakosta.

Maria Yufereva-Skuratovski, Deputy Head of the Commission, noted that Ukraine is interested in the return of its residents, but that the state primarily needs weapons to defend its country and freedom.

According to the participants of the meeting, the extension of the directive for one year would require €1.6 million in additional funds to cover the costs associated with international and temporary protection. They also emphasized that if the war does not end in a year, the directive can be extended again, but this should be a decision made by all EU member states.

Representatives of the Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) abstained from voting, citing the need to separately address the issue of deserters, whose detention, in their opinion, is unfair.

Author - Olena Madiak, 26/09/2023