Estonian Parliament has confirmed the support for European Union temporary protection policy for refugees from Ukraine until March 2025.
European Pravda reports this with reference to ERR.
Liisa Pakosta, the Chairperson of the EU Affairs Committee of the Estonian Parliament, noted that russia continues to wage war against Ukraine, many homes and workplaces in the country have been destroyed, and civilians are still being murdered. For this reason, war refugees still need comprehensive support.
"Many people are unable to return home because their home no longer exists or they have to run to a shelter at night. The Riigikogu decided to extend the granting of temporary protection to Ukrainian war refugees – this allows each Ukrainian family to decide for themselves whether they continue to need temporary protection and when they can return home, because first new homes, workplaces, or even whole new settlements have to be built," she said.
Maria Jufereva-Skuratovski, Vice- Chairperson of the Committee, noted that Ukraine is interested in returning its residents, but now the state first of all needs weapons to protect its country and freedom.
According to the meeting participants, extending the validity of the directive by one year will require EUR 1.6 million of additional funds to cover the costs associated with the provision of international and temporary protection. They also stressed that if the war does not end in a year, the deadline for applying the directive can be extended again, but this should be a decision made by all European Union states.
Representatives of the faction of the Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) abstained from the vote, saying deserters should be dealt with separately.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, Greece extended temporary protection for Ukrainians.
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