More than 3.5 Ukrainians have fled their country as of March 23, 2022 in the outbreak of war. Photo credit: CBS News.
EU Pledges Financial Support For Receiving Countries
March 24, 2022–As the Russian incursion continues, more and more Ukrainians escape their battle-beaten, war-torn country. To date, nearly 3.7 million Ukrainians have fled the country. Overall, the United Nations says the war has impacted 12 million.
Once inside the European Union, immigrants with visas have access to the entire European Union. The Schengen area is a consortium of 26 European countries that allows unrestricted personal travel between nations for periods up to 90-days.
Based on the free movement of people in this visa-free zone, the world’s largest visa-free zone, Ukrainian refugees can escape the carnage of war into the European Union.
Ukraine’s Neighbors Bear The Weight Of the Refugee Crisis
Meanwhile, neighboring countries like Poland, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, and Slovakia bear a burden of a large refugee population.
An underlining issue linked to this ongoing conflict is the increased economic and social burden on the receiving countries. Although the United Nations is discussing these impacts and considering the type of assistance to provide to countries accepting Ukrainian refugees, no specific resolutions have been agreed upon. This topic is particularly concerning for neighboring countries like Poland, which has accepted over 2.1 million Ukrainian refugees to date.
A mayor in Poland, where the vast majority of the refugees are sheltering, addressed the weight of the responsibility for his town in an interview with the UN refugee agency.
“These refugees have lost almost everything. We need to help them. Even if that means we’ll have to learn to live with less,” Medyka Mayor Marek Iwasieczko said to the UNHRC.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has sent neighboring countries “stockpiles of essential supplies such as thermal blankets and sleeping mats” to accommodate the rapidly increasing number of Ukrainian emigrants.
Meanwhile, millions more Ukrainians are displaced internally. Furthermore, some residents are trapped as Russia’s military bombs cities. The worst is in the port city of Mariupol, where the city council says Russian bombs destroyed nearly 90 percent of the city.
EU Support
This week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen promised additional funds to EU members accepting refugees.
“Never in the history of the world have there been so many refugees. Millions of them are hosted by low-income countries,” Von der Leyen said on Tuesday. “All European Member States are doing their part. To help them, we have made sure that European funds can be used with utmost flexibility in support of refugees.”
Impact of War on Global Food Supply
Von der Leyen also highlighted the implications of Russia’s ongoing aggression. Specifically, she stressed the impact on the world’s food supply as Ukraine is a leading exporter of wheat and corn and any disruption to their ability to produce will have wide-reaching, global implications.
“This Kremlin-made war is threatening food security across the world. And this is adding on an already dire situation,” she said.
War Talks
Ongoing negotiations between both countries have been unsuccessful. Russia demands more territory while Ukraine demands a withdrawal of Russian troops before a peace agreement can be reached. Global interest in the conflict remains high based on tactics being used by Russia. U.S. President Joe Biden said Vladimir Putin’s “back is against the wall” indicating the potential employment of more severe tactics, including chemical weapons, by Russian troops.
In a statement released today, NATO Heads of State warned that “Any use by Russia of a chemical or biological weapon would be unacceptable and result in severe consequences.”
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