A directive granting residency and aid is set to expire in 2027, as countries struggle to sustain millions of immigrants

The EU is unlikely to extend its temporary protection scheme for Ukrainian immigrants beyond its current expiry date, the bloc's special envoy, Ylva Johansson, has indicated.

Brussels activated the Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) shortly after the conflict between Ukraine and Russia escalated in early 2022. The directive provides a wide range of benefits, including residence permits, housing, access to jobs, education, healthcare, financial aid, and social services.

Although the scheme was initially due to expire in March 2025, the European Commission last year extended it until March 2027 while beginning preparations for its eventual phase-out.

"I would be very surprised if temporary protection were prolonged as it is," Johansson, the European Commission's special envoy for Ukrainians in the EU, said on Wednesday, as quoted by Euroactiv. "Five years is enough for temporary protection," she added.

Johansson is scheduled to brief EU home affairs ministers on the situation on Thursday, according to the outlet.

The development comes as a growing number of European governments face domestic pressure to scale back support measures for Ukrainian immigrants.

Member states have used €19 billion ($22 billion) in EU cohesion and home affairs funds to pay for housing, education, and social support for the 4.3 million Ukrainians under temporary protection.

Countries including Poland, Germany, and Finland, as well as non-EU states Norway, Switzerland, and the UK, have taken steps in recent months to tighten rules. The measures have included limiting the issuance of new protection statuses, reducing financial aid, and curbing other benefits. Officials cite the strain on national budgets and housing markets from the prolonged conflict and the large number of arrivals as primary reasons.

In November, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the employment rate among Ukrainian refugees in Germany was "unacceptably low" and urged more to seek work. Merz also noted that military-age men have been fleeing Ukraine to avoid conscription, as Kiev struggles to replenish its battlefield losses.

(RT.com)