Bulgaria Among Main EU Hosts for Over 4 Million Ukrainians under Temporary Protection

As of November 30, 2025, over 4.3 million non-EU citizens who fled Ukraine were under temporary protection across the European Union, according to Eurostat. In Bulgaria, the number of Ukrainian refugees remains relatively stable, with 76,675 individuals registered under temporary protection.

Germany continues to host the largest share of beneficiaries, with 1,241,000 people, representing 28.7% of all temporary protection cases in the EU. Other major host countries include Poland, with 968,750 people, and the Czech Republic, with 392,670. Among the 26 EU countries reporting data, 21 saw increases in their Ukrainian refugee populations during November, led by Germany (+11,040; +0.9%), Poland (+3,745; +0.4%), and Spain (+2,810; +1.1%). Conversely, France and Lithuania recorded the largest declines, with decreases of 870 (-1.6%) and 575 (-1.1%) people, respectively.

The monthly number of new temporary protection decisions in the EU fell to 53,735 in November, a decrease of 32.5% and 27.8% compared to September and October. This reduction brought new approvals to levels similar to those before the Ukrainian government’s August 2025 decree allowing men aged 18 to 22 and above to leave Ukraine without restrictions.

Measured per thousand residents, the highest ratios of temporary protection beneficiaries were observed in the Czech Republic (36.0), Poland (26.5), and Slovakia (25.7), compared to an EU average of 9.6 per thousand. Ukrainian citizens make up more than 98.4% of all temporary protection recipients in the EU. Among them, adult women account for 43.6%, minors nearly a third (30.7%), and adult men just over a quarter (25.7%).

Temporary protection in the EU is based on Council Implementing Decision 2022/382 of March 4, 2022, which recognised a mass inflow of persons displaced from Ukraine due to the Russian invasion. On June 13, 2025, the European Council extended this protection, originally set to expire on March 4, 2026, for an additional year until March 4, 2027.