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EU officially extends protections for Ukrainian refugees

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EU officially extends protections for Ukrainian refugees
Ukrainians attend a job fair for refugees in Berlin on Oct. 04, 2023. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

The European Union officially extended temporary protections for Ukrainian refugees in EU countries until March 2025, the European Council announced on Oct. 19.

While EU ministers agreed to the extension on Sept. 27, the council adopted the plan on Oct. 19.

The EU's Temporary Protection Directive offers immediate collective protections to displaced persons, and was designed as an alternative to the asylum process. It was first implemented in 2001, following armed conflicts in the Balkan states.

The EU once again activated the Temporary Protection Directive in March 2022, after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The temporary protections allow Ukrainian refugees to access housing, find work, and receive social benefits in EU countries.

The EU estimates that 4.1 million Ukrainians are currently registered for temporary protections.

According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the majority of the displaced Ukrainians plan or hope to return home after the war.

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"I'm grateful to the president for all the options offered. However, today there are only three positions in the country that, alongside the troops on the battlefield, actually shape the course of the war: the President of Ukraine, the defense minister, and the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine," Mykhailo Fedorov said.

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The Kyiv Independent's Martin Fornusek speaks with Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, chair of the NATO Military Committee, at the 2026 NATO Summit about the lessons NATO is drawing from the war in Ukraine and how the alliance is preparing for the future of warfare.

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