Romania stops financial support for Ukrainian refugees
Kyiv • UNN
Romania stopped providing financial assistance to Ukrainian refugees in 2024 due to budgetary constraints, although it had previously offered support programs in 2023.
In 2024, the Romanian authorities did not allocate any financial assistance to Ukrainian refugees, Euractiv reports, citing the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, UNN reports .
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Ukrainian refugees seeking asylum in Romania received some financial support in February, but these were payments from the end of 2023.
Assistance to Ukrainian refugees was also delayed last year due to budget shortfalls, leading to protests by several dozen Ukrainian refugees in front of the Ministry of Finance in November 2023.
Until April 2023, assistance was provided through the 50/20 program, which allocated 50 lei (10 euros) for accommodation and 20 lei for daily meals. This money was not provided directly to refugees, but was transferred to Romanian hosts.
From May 2023, the government reduced the allowance to 750 lei (150 euros) per month for individuals and 2000 lei (402 euros) per month for families, with an additional 600 lei (120 euros) per person for food costs. Adults had to be registered with county employment agencies, the Bucharest municipality, or employed in Romania, and children had to be enrolled in school to be eligible for the allowance.
According to the latest data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, as of February 2024, more than 78,000 Ukrainians were in Romania.
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In an interview with Free Europe in May 2023, Ramona Kiriak, head of the European Commission's Delegation to Romania, noted that Bucharest also has access to European funds to address the problem.
At the EU level, Romania ranks eighth in terms of the number of Ukrainian refugees.
