The Activation of the Temporary Protection Directive 2001/55/EC for Ukrainian Refugees: A Demonstration of its Uniqueness
Journal: Paix et Securite Internationales
Year: 2023

The invasion of Ukraine launched by Russia on 24 February 2022 and the flight from Ukraine of 650 000 displaced persons in a period of two weeks –from 24 February to 3 March 2022– led the Council of the EU to recognize “the existence of a mass influx into the Union of displaced persons who have had to leave Ukraine as a consequence of an armed conflict”[1]. The Council’s unanimous finding of the existence of a “mass influx” situation had never been made before. Neither in 2011 following the Arab