European interior ministers met urgently in Brussels on Sunday to organize the reception of Ukrainians fleeing the Russian offensive and discuss granting them automatic temporary protection.
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“We have to look at what status we can give to these people who are fleeing Ukrainian territory in extremely difficult conditions,” said French minister Gérald Darmanin, whose country holds the presidency of the EU Council, arriving at the meeting. .
It is “first” to welcome them “as best as possible in Poland and in neighboring countries, to see how we can help them in a humanitarian way (…) and then to see how, in Europe, we can bring them this protection” provided for in a 2001 directive, he said.
This regime, set up in response to the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, but which has never been used, provides for the granting of temporary protection in the event of a mass influx of displaced persons, and measures to distribute among the countries of the EU the effort to welcome these refugees.
“France will put this subject on the agenda,” said Mr. Darmanin.
The use of this directive is requested by Belgium.
“We must guarantee protection at European level,” asked the Belgian Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration, Sammy Mahdi. We are at “a historic moment for the European Union, a moment when we must take courageous decisions (…) I will propose to activate this directive today as soon as possible”, he said.
“Now is the right time to use it,” said Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson, adding that she was going to make a proposal to this effect.
“It can be an option, I am not opposed to it”, reacted the Swedish Minister for Integration and Migration, Anders Ygeman, considering that the Europeans must take “their responsibilities together”.
“The main thing is to find non-bureaucratic solutions so that we can quickly accommodate these refugees,” observed German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.
In the immediate future, “the question is not so much the distribution as examining how we can help the neighboring countries” of Ukraine, in particular “with logistical support for Poland”, she said. valued.
Some 368,000 refugees have fled the fighting in Ukraine since the Russian invasion launched on Thursday, more than half of whom have entered Poland, and their number “continues to increase”, according to the United Nations and the Polish authorities.
Ukrainian citizens can currently enter the EU without a visa for a period of three months.