Latvian Government Plans Long-Term Support for Ukrainian Residents

The Latvian government approved on Tuesday a draft letter of the Cabinet of Ministers, instructing the Ministry of Culture (MoC) to prepare and submit an action plan for supporting Ukrainian residents in Latvia for 2027 and subsequent years. This decision follows a letter from the Saeima’s Citizenship, Migration and Social Cohesion Committee dated September 23, 2025, which urged an effective and coordinated approach to the long-term integration of Ukrainians.

In its response, the MoC noted that it has already identified studies by international and non-governmental organizations on the situation of Ukrainian residents and held talks with the Ministry of the Interior and the Society Integration Foundation (SIF) regarding the strengths and weaknesses of existing coordination models. Since June 1, 2025, the MoC has taken over the coordination of Ukrainian integration in cooperation with the SIF. The ministry plans to organize an inter-ministerial meeting to agree on an evaluation of past experience and data sets to be used for the annual plan.

The parliamentary committee acknowledged that after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Latvia provided swift support—including accommodation, allowances, education, and language training—using the EU Temporary Protection Directive and the Law on Support for Ukrainian Residents. However, the committee argued that temporary measures are insufficient for long-term integration goals, as some Ukrainians intend to stay permanently. Therefore, the committee called on the government to prepare an informative report by February 2026 on a strategy for long-term integration, involving all relevant ministries, municipalities, NGOs, and the Ukrainian diaspora.

A key issue is the lack of accurate data on the number of Ukrainian residents in the country. The committee asked the government to clarify what data ministries use for financial calculations when preparing the support plan.