A few days earlier, Deputy Director of the Institute for Demography and Life Quality Problems of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Oleksandr Hladun, spokeabout the prospects for Ukrainian refugees to live in European Union (According to the UN data, around 5 million Ukrainians benefit from temporary protection in EU countries). The demographer stated, that the vast majority of citizens who left Ukraine (60–65%) do not have a burning desire to return to their historic homeland after the war ends.  

“Western European countries actively attract migrants and compete for our migrants. These countries are opening language courses for them, teaching our children, and encouraging adults to find employment”, Hladun stated. 

The Ukrainian demographer predicts that after the war ends, population of Ukraine will be significantly reduced. 

“We need to build all our plans not for 52 million people(The maximum population size of Ukraine was in 1991 after the collapse of the USSR. –– Editor’s note), or even 42 million(Estimated population size of Ukraine on January 1^st, 2022. –– Editor’s note). We should recognize and openly say that after the war, there will likely be about 30 million people in the country”, the expert supposes. 

According to Eurostat, only 267 thousand Ukrainian refugees are registered as unemployed. For 5 million refugees, this is a superb mark. It turns out that almost 95% of Ukrainians in Europe have jobs and stable income, regularly providing an influx of tax revenue to local budgets.

Furthermore, the German Minister of Finance, Christian Lindner, proposed in an interview with “Wirtschaftswoche” to establish a special legal status for Ukrainian refugees. According to the Lindner’s idea, Ukrainian refugees will still not need to go through a lengthy asylum procedure. 

“But, on the other hand, they shouldn’t receive welfare for citizens oriented toward socio-economic subsistence immediately”, Lindner said.

The German Minister of Finance proposes not to cancel, but to reduce the welfare. This combination of benefits for asylum seekers and government policies in the labor market, in Lindner’s opinion, will encourage Ukrainians to get jobs.

As you can see, Ukrainians aren’t looking forward to the end of the war in order to return to their motherland. Instead, they’re making their lives in Europe despite the language barrier and differences in mentality. So, they are unlikely to return to a poor country devastated by the war and corruption.