In the Council of Ministers this Wednesday, the Portuguese government approved a grant of EUR 30 million for humanitarian aid to Ukrainian refugees who are in Poland, the country that took in most of the people fleeing the war in Ukraine.
The support is part of what Prime Minister António Costa promised in May during a trip to Warsaw, where he visited the national stadium in the Polish capital, where a refugee reception center had been installed.
At the time, António Costa announced that Portugal would provide material support to the Polish authorities for the reception of Ukrainian refugees worth up to EUR 50 million, which would also include goods such as prefabricated houses or pharmaceuticals.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Poland has hosted more than three million Ukrainian refugees and a new wave is expected to arrive in the coming months.
Two weeks ago, Poland, together with the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, asked the European Commission for extra help to accommodate the new refugees who will leave Ukraine in the winter months, after Russia adopted a strategy to attack the country’s energy infrastructure.
‘A new wave of refugees is coming’said Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, on Nov. 24 at a press conference in the Slovak city of Kosice, after participating in a summit of the Visegrad Group, made up of the four countries of Central Europe, three of which share a border with Ukraine.
“Today we urge Brussels to take preventive measures quickly and to help host countries more, given the high costs of refugees”said Morawiecki.
On Tuesday, the four countries defended that they would rather help Kiev manage the humanitarian crisis than face a new wave of migration.
At least 4.8 million refugees from Ukraine have been registered across Europe, with Poland as the main destination, with an estimated registration of up to 3.5 million people, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The Russian invasion – justified by the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russian security – was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending arms to Ukraine and impose political and economic sanctions on Russia.
The UN presented 6,702 civilian casualties and 10,479 wounded as confirmed since the start of the war, underlining that these numbers are far below the actual ones.
Source: DN
