|Published on: 5th March 2026|Categories: News|
Wednesday 4 March marked the fourth anniversary of the activation of the EU Temporary Protection Directive (TPD). Originally adopted in 2001, the TPD was activated on 4 March 2022 in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
According to the latest data published by the European Statistical Office (Eurostat), approximately 4.35 million non-EU citizens who fled Ukraine were under temporary protection (TP) in EU member states (MS) in December 2025. The largest numbers of TP beneficiaries were living in Germany (1.25 million), Poland (969,000) and Czechia (393,000) while the EU MS with the largest numbers of TP beneficiaries relative to their respective populations were Czechia (36.0 per 1,000), Poland (26.6) and Cyprus and Slovakia (both 25.8).
On 4 June 2025, the European Commission (EC) proposed to extend the TP regime until March 2027. This proposal received unanimous support from the Council of the EU nine days later. However, the proposal also included a set of measures to prepare EU MS for a “coordinated transition” out of TP thus raising questions about long-term future of people currently under the TP regime. Speaking on behalf of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU on the day of the Council agreement, the then Polish Minister of the Interior and Administration, Tomasz Siemoniak, said: “We will continue to offer protection for millions of Ukrainian refugees for another year. The Polish presidency also initiated discussion on a strategy to phase out temporary protection once a just peace is achieved. In the near future, we will work towards common, EU-wide solutions in this area, including in the context of returns to Ukraine”.
Details of the “coordinated transition” were on the agenda for discussion in the EU’s Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council on 5 March. Speaking the day before, EU Special Envoy for Ukrainians in the EU Ylva Johansson, who was scheduled to brief ministers in the JHA meeting, said: “I would be very surprised if temporary protection were prolonged as it is,” adding that “five years is enough for temporary protection”.
See below some recent articles about the future of TP in a number of EU MS:
And see below official statements about the future of TP in three non-EU European countries:
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