Ukrainians in the EU may be sent home more often
European countries are gradually changing the rules governing the stay of Ukrainians and are increasingly issuing requests for their return home. At the same time, this does not constitute a mass deportation of everyone, but rather case-by-case decisions regarding specific instances and violations.
The State Migration Service explains that the process has already gained momentum, but the EU’s overall policy is still taking shape and depends on the decisions of individual countries.
European countries are increasingly reviewing their approaches to the stay of Ukrainians on their territory, tightening controls over temporary protection rules, and sending more requests for the return of Ukrainian citizens home, as stated in an interview by Natalia Naumenko, head of the State Migration Service of Ukraine.
According to her, the situation in different EU countries is developing unevenly, as some states are cutting social benefits, others are changing living conditions or restricting access to support programs, and in some cases are even stopping the acceptance of new applications for temporary protection. “Ireland is canceling affordable housing for Ukrainians, some countries are cutting social benefits, and others are stopping the acceptance of applications for temporary protection,” Naumenko noted, adding that European countries are closely monitoring one another and trying to prevent the movement of Ukrainians between states following the tightening of rules.
She explained that if one EU country imposes restrictions, another may refuse to grant temporary protection to the same person if it sees that they previously benefited from this program in another country. In this way, countries are effectively trying to “anchor” Ukrainians within a specific jurisdiction to avoid chaotic movement between states. “In other words, it will no longer be possible to travel from Germany, which is imposing certain restrictions, to the Czech Republic. Because if the Czech Republic sees that a Ukrainian citizen had temporary protection in Germany, it will no longer grant its own temporary protection,” explained the head of the State Migration Service.
According to her, this practice is part of a policy to stabilize the temporary protection system, which allows European countries to control migration flows and reduce the burden on social systems.
Separately, Naumenko drew attention to the growing number of requests for the return of Ukrainians under the readmission procedure, whereby EU countries officially ask Ukraine to take their citizens back. “We have quite a few requests from European countries (Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany) regarding the return of our citizens—both men and women—to Ukraine. In this regard, we are already seeing significant momentum. But what the EU’s overall decision regarding Ukrainian citizens will be remains unknown,” she said.
At the same time, according to the head of the State Migration Service, this mostly concerns Ukrainians who have violated migration rules, lost their grounds for stay, or are in EU countries without proper status.
She also noted that the readmission mechanism existed even before the full-scale war, but recently it has been applied much more actively, which creates the impression of tighter controls. “Since around 2024, we have observed a gradual increase in the use of this mechanism,” Naumenko added.
At the same time, she emphasized that the European Union is not interested in the mass return of all Ukrainians at once, as the economies of many countries are partially dependent on Ukrainian workers; however, each state is simultaneously forced to balance the need for labor with the limitations of its own social systems. “They are interested in keeping skilled workers in their labor market, but it also has certain limitations,” she concluded.
Ukraine has rejected the idea of “associated” EU membership without voting rights, which had been discussed in European political circles. Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that such a format is unfair and does not correspond to Ukraine’s role in European security.
