Ukrainians who are under temporary protection in the European Union countries generally make a positive contribution to the labour markets and economies of member states and are not a burden on social systems, Ilva Johansson, the EU’s special envoy for Ukrainians, has said.
She said that although the level of integration of Ukrainians into the labour market differs from country to country, the overall trend is positive and employment of Ukrainians in Member States is growing.
“The general situation is that they are contributing to the labour market. And I think in the future it will be a situation where employers in the Member States will want to retain them,” Johansson said.
She stressed that in some countries the level of participation of Ukrainians in the labour market has already approached the indicators of the local population. In particular, in Poland and the Czech Republic this indicator is very high.
“In countries where research has been conducted, for example in the Czech Republic, they found out that Ukrainians last year contributed twice as much money as the state spent on social benefits for them,” the EU special envoy said.
In particular, as Radio Prague International reported, in the first half of 2025, the income that Ukrainians brought to the Czech budget in the form of taxes totalled 15 billion crowns (61:6) million euros, while state subsidies for humanitarian aid, accommodation, health care and education during this period totalled 7.6 billion crowns (31:2) million euros.
Johansson said Ukrainians in the EU are increasingly seen not only as workers for national labour markets, but also as an important resource for Ukraine-related projects.
“I am now leading the discussion together with the business sector, because many European companies are already present in Ukraine. These companies are asking for Ukrainian labour here in the Member States to be sent to Ukraine, as they need language and cultural skills,” Johansson said.
She also stressed that upgrading the skills of Ukrainians in EU countries and their participation in transnational projects could become an important component of Ukraine’s recovery and its further integration into the European Union.
According to Eurostat, as of November 2025, 4.33 million Ukrainians were under temporary protection in the European Union countries.