The European Union in the face of the Ukrainian refugee and humanitarian crisis of 2022-2023. Dynamics – legal and institutional instruments – means of assistance
The European Union in the face of the Ukrainian refugee and humanitarian crisis of 2022-2023. Dynamics – legal and institutional instruments – means of assistance

Summary/Abstract: The European Union and its member states have managed the refugee and humanitarian crisis triggered by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine much more effectively than the refugee and migration crisis of 2015–2016. There are two main reasons for this success. First, volunteers, national and local NGOs and civil society actors from the host countries became much more involved in efforts to cope with the crisis. Secondly, spontaneous help was provided by the Polish public, who on a vast scale offered shelter in their own homes to Ukrainians fleeing the war, a fact which won the admiration of many Western countries and the public there. The role of Polish society was especially invaluable given that Poland took in the largest wave of refugees: 17,293,665 people crossed the Ukrainian–Polish border between 24 February 2022 and 31 December 2023. EU legal and institutional instruments that already existed but had not been duly recognised or activated, such as the temporary protection mechanism for refugees, Integrated Political Crisis Response, and the Union Civil Protection Mechanism, also played an extremely important role. The total economic, financial and humanitarian assistance provided by the European Union and its member states to Ukraine in the analysed period to the end of 2023 was €60.346 billion, with military support amounting to a further €28.022 billion.

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