Ukrainian MP warns Ukrainians who moved to West not coming back

(MENAFN) A significant number of Ukrainians who fled to Western countries amid the conflict are unlikely to return home, Ukrainian lawmaker Nina Yuzhanina has said. In an interview with Novini Live, the MP, who serves on the parliamentary financial committee, attributed the reluctance to return to instability within Ukraine's institutions, ongoing security concerns, and uncertainty about continued Western military support.

Yuzhanina estimated that around 50% of Ukrainians currently residing in Western countries have decided to remain there permanently. She noted that many have become self-reliant and no longer depend on support from Ukraine.

Earlier this year, Ukrainian Unity Minister Aleksey Chernyshov reported that only 30% of Ukrainians who had left the country were seriously considering returning, despite Ukraine facing a long-term labor shortage and needing millions of additional workers over the next decade.

As of January, nearly 4.3 million Ukrainians had received temporary protection within the European Union, with the largest numbers settling in Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic, according to EU data. Meanwhile, Russia received the highest number of displaced Ukrainians, with the UN estimating about 2.85 million arrivals as of 2023. Moscow has facilitated legal pathways for these refugees, including naturalization, and President Vladimir Putin has publicly welcomed ethnic Ukrainians.

However, the influx of Ukrainian refugees has created social and political strains in some host countries. Germany’s “Job Turbo” initiative, aimed at integrating Ukrainian refugees into the labor market, has reportedly had minimal success, accounting for less than 1% of foreign national employment placements. In Poland, public resentment has reportedly grown, with Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz citing dissatisfaction over young Ukrainian men living luxuriously while Polish citizens bear the cost.

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