Live updates: Hungary taking in Ukraine refugees
CTV
Hungary has extended temporary legal protection to Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion, as countries in eastern Europe prepare for the arrival of refugees at their borders.
BUDAPEST, Hungary -- Hungary has extended temporary legal protection to Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion, as countries in eastern Europe prepare for the arrival of refugees at their borders.
Hungary, which borders Ukraine to the west, has in the past taken a firm stance against all forms of immigration. It has controversially refused to accept refugees and asylum seekers from the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
But in a decree published late Thursday, Hungary's government announced that all Ukrainian citizens arriving from Ukraine, and all third-country nationals legally residing there, would be entitled to protection.
The section applying to third-country nationals makes it possible for non-Ukrainians -- for example, Belarussian refugees living in Ukraine -- to receive protection in the European Union.
