Bulgaria again extends humanitarian aid scheme for people displaced from Ukraine
Meeting on July 31, Bulgaria’s caretaker government granted the latest in a succession of extensions of the humanitarian aid scheme for people displaced from Ukraine since the start of Russia’s illegal invasion of that country in 2022.
The assistance scheme, involving state payments towards accommodation, was first put in place in 2022 by the Bulgarian government headed by Kiril Petkov, in response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine that triggered a flow of millions of refugees.
The current assistance scheme, watered down by caretaker governments appointed by Bulgarian President Roumen Radev, was due to expire on July 31 2024.
It is now extended to December 31 2024 “under the conditions currently in force”.
The dedicated portal set up in 2022 by the Petkov government for Ukrainian refugees in Bulgaria has not been updated for several months.
Currently, it says that since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, a total of 2 454 748 Ukrainians have entered Bulgaria.
A total of 181 868 have been registered by Bulgaria under the EU’s temporary protection scheme. A total of 55 302 remain in Bulgaria. In turn, a total of 6081 are accommodated through the state scheme.
Given that several months have passed since these figures have been updated, it is an open question how accurate they are, but they remain the only official figures available.
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