The Council of the European Union agreed to extend the Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) for people fleeing Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine - previously set to end on 4 March 2024 - to 4 March 2025.

The TPD was invoked by the European Commission (EC) in order to offer quick and effective assistance in European countries to people displaced from Ukraine. It is an emergency mechanism activated in exceptional circumstances of mass influx, originally adopted in 2001 in the aftermath of large-scale displacement in Europe that occured as a result of armed conflict in the Western Balkans (in particular from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo).

Now that this agreement has been reached, legal scrubbing and translation into all EU languages must take place before the Council can formally adopt the decision.

Further details can be found in the EC's proposal for extension.

Learn more about the TPD here.