Over 200,000 in Germany: EU argues about distribution of Ukraine refugees

Over 200,000 in Germany
EU argues about distribution of Ukraine refugees

More than 3.2 million people have fled Ukraine since the war began. The next dispute within the EU about how to deal with the refugees is already emerging. Hungary, for example, is opposed to mandatory distribution this time as well.

Because of the war in Ukraine, a renewed dispute between the member states about how to deal with refugees is apparently threatening at EU level. This was reported by “Spiegel” with reference to an internal report by the German EU representation. At a crisis meeting in Brussels last week, Hungary opposed a proposal by Italy, Greece and Luxembourg.

The three countries had called for joint efforts “for the sustainable accommodation of hundreds of thousands of refugees,” it said. According to the magazine, Greece also brought “mandatory solidarity” into play, since sooner or later the resettlement of refugees would be necessary. Hungary’s representatives immediately rejected the proposal as too controversial and “counterproductive”.

Countries like Greece and Italy, which have been receiving large numbers of refugees for years, have long been pushing for a reform of EU asylum rules and in particular the distribution of incoming migrants among the rest of the EU countries. However, any attempts in this direction were blocked, primarily by Hungary and Poland.

Over 200,000 refugees in Germany

According to the UN refugee agency UNHCR, more than 3.2 million people have fled the country since the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine began on February 24. By far the largest number of refugees from Ukraine have been taken in by Poland.

In Germany, the federal police have so far identified 207,742 war refugees from Ukraine. This was announced by the Ministry of the Interior. Only refugees who are found by the federal police, for example at the Austrian-Bavarian border, at train stations or on trains, are recorded.

As a rule, there are no fixed border controls at the internal EU borders, and Ukrainians are also allowed to enter the country without a visa – the number of people who actually arrived is therefore probably significantly higher. It is also not recorded how many of the refugees may be traveling on from Germany to friends or relatives in other countries.

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