Lithuania has called on the European Union to provide money to Ukrainian refugees
Author Jan Strupczewski
On Monday, Lithuanian Minister of Finance Gintarė Skaistė called on the European Union to establish a fund to help manage the financial burden on countries with thousands of Ukrainian refugees, as the EU did for Turkey in 2016.
The United Nations estimates that since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, about 6.5 million fled the country. Most of them, about 3.5 million, went to Poland and almost a million to Romania.
“Ukrainians now make up about 2% of the population in Lithuania,” he told Skyst Reuters. “About 2.5% in Estonia and 6-7% in Poland, so the number of supporters is huge. We are asking for additional funding to help in this situation, “he said.
Skaistė said the average cost of a refugee in a host country is about 500 euros per person per month, which is a higher figure that will continue to grow depending on how many refugees stay.
In response, the Commission has given EU governments the flexibility to use EU funds under a previous long-term or current budget, but not new ones.
Skaistė said that this was not beneficial for Eastern European countries, which have already spent EU appropriations from the previous EU budget and unwanted waste projects, which are currently expected to be funded by the EU.
“I’m not asking for flexibility, I’m asking for extra funding,” he said.
“When immigrants from Turkey come to Greece, I ask if we can think of a tool used in the migration crisis, when EU countries have decided to set aside more money and use that money to support migrants,” he said.
In order to achieve the 2015 migration crisis, the European Union in 2016 A total of € 6 billion has been allocated to Turkey. to accept EUR 3.7 million. refugees from Syria. Half of the money came from the EU budget and half from the EU’s national contributions.
Skaistė said that Lithuania is open to any plans for long-term financial assistance to rebuild Ukraine after the collapse of Russian troops, including a new joint EU loan.
Germany opposes new EU joint borrowing, but Kyiv estimates the amount needed for Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction on 3 May. will reach 600 billion.
Lithuania, Slovakia, Latvia and Estonia show a joint letter from four people at a meeting of EU finance ministers on Tuesday calling for the confiscation of Russia’s frozen Russian assets to help rebuild Ukraine.
Skystee said the country should be restructured along with EU accession processes.
“The reconstruction of Ukraine must, of course, be in line with the EU’s integration into the EU, as there may be synergies between the two processes of financing reforms and reconstruction in Ukraine,” he said. (Report by Jan Strupczewski; edited by Hugh Lawson)