Estonia backed the EU proposal to prolong temporary protection, offering security to displaced Ukrainians while EU capitals prepare for an eventual transition.<\/p>\n
The Government of Estonia supported extending the temporary protection regime for Ukrainian refugees in EU countries until March 4, 2028, in response to the proposal of the European Commission.<\/p>\n
According to Estonia\u2019s Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Taro, the country will continue to support Ukraine and its citizens who were forced to leave their homes due to Russian aggression.<\/p>\n
Many Ukrainian refugees cannot return home, as Russia has occupied part of their country and continues to strike Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure. Extending temporary protection gives people confidence that they will be able to secure a safe life until returning to Ukraine becomes possible,<\/p>\n
\u2013 Ihor Taro<\/p>\n
Context and implications of the decision<\/p>\n
Under the European Commission\u2019s proposal, the temporary protection regime is extended for another year \u2013 until March 4, 2028.<\/p>\n
The document introduces a rule by which temporary protection will no longer be granted to Ukrainian citizens who, due to military service, do not have a legal right to leave the state\u2019s territory.<\/p>\n
Changes will not affect Ukrainians who already have temporary protection in EU countries: they will continue to enjoy rights to residence, employment, education, and access to social and medical services.<\/p>\n
In the EU, there are currently about 4.4 million Ukrainians using this regime.<\/p>\n
On June 26, the European Commission presented to the Council of the EU a proposal to extend the EU directive on temporary protection for Ukrainians who left after the full-scale invasion by the Russian Federation, with the aim of not granting protection to those liable for military service.<\/p>\n
The temporary protection mechanism was last extended until March 4, 2027.<\/p>\n
Last year the European Commission urged capitals of member states to prepare for the possible gradual termination of the program; in 2024, recommendations were adopted regarding a \u201ccoordinated transition\u201d to more stable legal statuses, but progress in this direction remains uneven.<\/p>\n
Estonia emphasizes the importance of a unified approach to applying the temporary protection regime in the EU and preparing for its eventual end, while ensuring support for Ukrainians who need protection today.<\/p>\n
Estonia remains ready to support Ukrainians during the transition and to provide protection to those who need it now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Estonia backed the EU proposal to prolong temporary protection, offering security to displaced Ukrainians while EU capitals prepare…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15346,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[6509,6508,6510,6511,82,6512,6513],"class_list":["post-15345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-estonia-temporary-protection","tag-estonia-temporary-protection-ukrainian-refugees-eu-temporary-protection-2028-igor-taro-statement-eu-directive","tag-eu-directive","tag-igor-taro-statement","tag-news","tag-temporary-protection-2028","tag-ukrainian-refugees-eu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}