The European Commission (EC) grants €7.8 million to the Ministry of Interior in order to financially support the current efforts of Latvia to strengthen the migration management system and the reception capacity of Ukrainian civilians.
The Ministry of Interior has demonstrated to the EC that Latvia has provided substantial support to Ukrainian civilians fleeing the Russian war against Ukraine, as well as Ukrainian services such as the State Fire and Rescue Service supplied equipment to Ukraine (helmets, printing rods, barrels, fire fighters' special protective clothing, etc.), hygiene goods, as well as sleeping bags, beds, mattresses, etc. Rescue and search equipment and 20,000 litres of fire-fighting foam concentrate, as well as diving equipment, have been transferred to the Ukrainian Emergency Service.
Support for the civilian population of Ukraine was also welcomed by the Deputy Director-General of the EC Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, Ms. Beate Gmindere, European Union Home Affairs Fund, in closing 2014-2020 and in the opening of the period 2021-2027, “The European Union's contribution to your security!” on 2 December, indicating that the amount of aid is indeed significant.
Currently, 11 494 Ukrainian civilians were housed in Latvia through the civil protection commissions of local governments. And 37 810 residence documents issued to persons (humanitarian visas and temporary residence permits) with the right to employment.
In the near future, the Ministry of Interior will draw up an information report with proposals for the use of funding, considering the most acute needs.
The financing agreement between the EC Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs and the Ministry of Interior was signed on 13 December this year. The Ministry of the Interior prepared the funding application in autumn 2022 under the Thematic Mechanism of the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund under the Extraordinary Assistance Financial Instrument.
Photo Copyright: European Union
