MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd July, 2023) The Czech Republic in 2022 provided 14 billion korunas ($640 million) in assistance to Ukrainian refugees in its territory, Czech news agency CTK reported on Sunday, citing a foreign ministry memo sent to the government.
"The 14 billion korunas were spent on lodging and temporary protection for Ukrainian refugees," the memo was quoted as saying.
The Czech Republic has accepted about 550,000 Ukrainian refugees since February 2022, according to Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan's data he shared with journalists earlier.
The Czech Foreign Ministry has also allocated an additional 193 million korunas for 27 projects to help Ukrainians, including refugees in Moldova as well as people relocated to safe places in Ukraine itself.
The Czech government has also adopted a special aid program for Ukraine, which covers the period from 2023-2025 and allocates 500 million korunas annually. More than half of these funds will be implemented through the foreign ministry while the rest through other ministries.
Besides assistance to Ukraine, the Czech Republic has this year allocated 48.2 million korunas to support Syrian refugees in Turkey. In addition, the Czech Development Agency has sent 313.2 million korunas to aid projects in Georgia, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zambia, Ethiopia and Cambodia.
Overall, the Czech Republic has allocated 20.86 billion korunas for various development programs in 2022, an increase of 12 billion korunas compared to 2021. This surplus was due to aid for Ukraine.
Europe has been experiencing a major migrant crisis since 2015 due to the influx of refugees from middle Eastern and North African countries on the back of the German-championed open doors policy.
