Not Poland, not Hungary: Which countries most want to keep Ukrainian refugees?
Photo: Ukrainian refugees are most needed in Scandinavian countries (Getty Images)
European countries are interested in having Ukrainian refugees stay with them. First and foremost, this concerns countries that are the most mature in terms of migration policy, RBC-Ukraine reports, citing Ukrainian macroeconomist, banker, Doctor of Sciences in Economics, and expert in the field of migration policy Andrii Gaidutski.
According to the Ukrainian expert, these are the countries where a dialogue in society on the topic "migrants - good or bad" took place as far back as 50 years ago, and which understood that if immigrants are not brought in, most of the factories and plants in the country would shut down.
"First and foremost, we are talking about the Scandinavian countries. These countries have already mentally overcome prejudice in their societies toward people from other countries and to a fairly equal degree are involving Syrians, Pakistanis, Ukrainians, and so on. For example, at the Scania plant in Sweden, people from more than 50 countries of the world are employed," Gaidutski said.
In the opinion of the Doctor of Sciences in Economics, the same cannot be said about Hungary or Poland, where a negative attitude toward foreign workers is still noticeable, and a significant preference for hiring foreigners is given only to Ukrainians.
Eastern Europe
"But the Eastern EU countries are suffering the most from a shortage of low-cost labor, and are therefore rapidly preparing their populations for a multicultural society and liberalizing their legislation to make it easier for businesses to hire foreigners. That's why both those who have been attracting migrants for the past 50 years, and those who need to accelerate the process so that their factories and plants keep operating, will be interested in Ukrainians," Gaidutski said.
According to the Ukrainian expert, this primarily concerns Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia as the new "industrial centers" of Eastern Europe. The accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen Area starting January 1, 2025, will also accelerate labor emigration from these countries, and this will push local employers to look for workers among Ukrainians.
"I also believe that after Germany stops providing financial support, part of the Ukrainian refugees will move to other countries with lower living costs - to Italy and Spain. And to countries with a higher level of free social protection from the state - to Sweden, Norway," Gaidutski said.
Refugees in Europe
According to the UN, as of December 16, 2024, 6.8 million Ukrainians had been registered abroad. However, this figure also includes those Ukrainians who left (or were forcibly taken) to Russia and Belarus. If we exclude Ukrainians who are in the territories of aggressor countries, their number stands at 5.5 million.
According to UN data, the largest numbers of Ukrainians are in the following countries:
- Germany - 1.235 million people,
- Poland - 985.1 thousand,
- Czechia - 380.4 thousand,
- United Kingdom - 253.5 thousand,
- Spain - 217.0 thousand,
- Italy - 171.5 thousand,
- France - 64.6 thousand.
