Estonia Continues to Strongly Support Ukrainian Refugees

In addition, Estonia has accepted more than 40,000 Ukrainian refugees since May 24, while the state has also granted temporary protection for each of them.

Refugees from Ukraine have also been offered initial accommodation, but arranging permanent housing has been challenging across the country. The Baltic State has also provided security-based needs of up to €900 and state-owned affordable housing, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.

In this regard, on February 24, the Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andres Sutt, announced that the country would allocate €200,000 in emergency aid to those fleeing the war in Ukraine.

At the same time, the funds were spent on improving the work of humanitarian aid organizations.

Besides, on March 1, the government allocated another €1.3 million to cover the costs of accepting refugees from Ukraine, including basic health checks and travel expenses within Estonia.

In addition to Tallinn, refugee reception points were opened in cities such as Rakvere, Tartu, and Pärnu to assist them in finding housing, entering the labor market, and accessing psychological assistance.

Authorities in Estonia previously announced that a bill was passed to facilitate the entry of Ukrainian refugees into the labor market, where employers were required to pay at least 80 per cent of the average wage of their sector in Estonia for their new refugee employees.

At the same time, on March 23, the Estonian state opened a telephone line providing psychological support to the Ukrainian-language school.

Estonian police and the Border Guard Board (PPA) previously announced that all Ukrainians with expired Estonian residence permits had been temporarily allowed to resume their stay in Estonia.

In early March, the University of Tartu launched a scholarship fund for all Ukrainian students, raising donations to support the studies of those students at Estonian universities.

The Ministry of Education has also shown support for all those Ukrainian children to access the education system by opening temporary schools for displaced children in Tallinn and integrating displaced children anywhere in the country into existing schools.

The kindergartens located in Tallinn have created space to host about 1000 Ukrainian children. Meanwhile, the same has happened in other cities, albeit on a smaller scale.

Moreover, through a’ flood’ of donations to the Estonian Red Cross, people fleeing Ukraine have already received substantial support from civil society organizations and the public, including the Estonian Public Broadcasting (ERR) program.

A charity concert was also held in March at the Estonia Theater in Tallinn, raising more than €140,000 for displaced people from Ukraine, and later in the month, a charity art auction was held.