Czech Lawmaker: No Preferential Treatment For Ukrainian Migrants

By Staff, Agencies

President of the parliament’s lower house, Tomio Okamura, has stated that Ukrainians applying for long-term residence in the Czech Republic should not be granted preferential treatment compared to other foreign nationals.

According to the Czech authorities, 393,000 Ukrainians are currently residing in the country and have temporary protection, which gives them access to healthcare, education, and the labor market. Last year, 16,000 Ukrainians were granted long-term residence permits.

Commenting on a proposal to ease conditions for Ukrainian migrants seeking to obtain the status, Okamura, the head of the Chamber of Deputies, said on Monday that his right-wing Freedom and Direct Democracy [SPD] party will oppose it.

He argued that all foreigners “need to meet the same standard conditions and that there are no exceptions.”

Okamura, whose party is a member of the ruling coalition government, said that ministers representing the SPD would vote against and block the draft plan.

Last month, Okamura denounced a rally in central Prague featuring a large Ukrainian flag as an “unnecessary provocation,” arguing that the embassy-backed event likely alienated Czech citizens opposed to large-scale Ukrainian migration.

Meanwhile, several EU countries, including Germany, Hungary, and Poland, have moved to scale back benefits for Ukrainian migrants amid mounting budget and housing pressures, with Poland in January approving draft legislation to reduce previously generous entitlements.

The legislation, which is expected to be finalized by March, would align Ukrainians’ rights to those of any other non-EU migrants.