EU member states agree to extend temporary protection for Ukrainian refugees

The EU member states on Thursday agreed to extend temporary protection for Ukrainian refugees until March 2025.

"In order to provide certainty for more than 4 million Ukrainian refugees currently living in the EU, the Council agreed to extend the temporary protection for people fleeing from Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine from 4 March 2024 to 4 March 2025," the European Council said in a statement.

Fernando Grande-Marlaska, Spain's acting interior minister, said in the statement that the EU will support the Ukrainian people for "as long as it takes."

"The prolongation of the protection status offers certainty to more than 4 million refugees who have found a safe haven in the EU," Grande-Marlaska said.

The temporary protection mechanism was initiated on March 4, 2022, a few days after the Russia's war in Ukraine began.