site.btaHumanitarian Support Programme for Ukrainian Refugees Stops Spending Money Unconditionally, Gives Real Labour Market Integration Opportunity - Deputy PM Zafirov

The Programme for Humanitarian Assistance to Displaced Persons from Ukraine with Granted Temporary Protection in Bulgaria stops spending money unconditionally on displaced people and gives them a real opportunity to fully integrate into the labour market, Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Zafirov said during Friday's Question Time in Parliament.

At the end of March, the National Operational Staff proposed to extend the Programme by one month. On April 1, the Council of Ministers adopted a decision to that end, reading that the extended period would be used to finalize a new programme that will build on existing support through an integration approach. The main objective is the long-term inclusion of Ukrainian citizens in the social and economic life of the country.

Zafirov expressed satisfaction with the Council of Ministers' decision on the new programme for humanitarian support and integration of displaced persons from Ukraine. In his words, the transformation of the current programme is to take into account the economic and budgetary realities and problems in the country. In his words, the new programme builds on the necessary conditions for this integration - employment, education, social support - so that displaced persons have the opportunity to live and, above all, work independently. 

The Deputy Prime Minister explained that it introduces a more sustainable, fair and controlled mechanism of support based on real needs with clearly defined criteria and clearly defined accountability. "This is not a mechanism for handing out privileges, but for temporary, targeted and regulated assistance to people who have fled a military conflict in keeping with our commitments as an EU Member State. The new programme introduces a sustainable mechanism based on transparency, needs and control, which replaces the previous model," Zafirov also said. 

It is about responsibility, a humane and social one. The effect sought is to manage resources more efficiently and reduce social tensions, as well as to make people more self-sufficient who seek a chance to live with dignity, he added.