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Districts is calling for a reduction in benefits for newly arrived refugees from Ukraine. The Higher Committee of Districts believes that Ukrainians should not be given immediate citizenship benefits. Instead, they should be offered benefits under the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act. The Council of Districts advocates the transition from cash payments to in-kind benefits and the introduction of a work requirement. In Poland, half of the population supports maintaining the current support for refugees from Ukraine, but almost 40% are against it.
PACE recognizes Holodomor as genocide against Ukrainians. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution on Oct. 12 recognizing the Holodomor as a genocide of the Ukrainian people and calling on all member states to follow suit.
The EC will present a report on Ukraine's fulfillment of the candidate criteria; the EC sees some progress. The European Commission’s annual report on enlargement will be submitted around November 8, but this date is not fixed and may change, said Eric Mamer, spokesman for the EC. As expected, the EU's executive body should recommend the start of official negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU. At the same time, the EC will not give the final green light for the start of negotiations because the member states must agree to it unanimously. Currently, Ukraine has not completed the implementation of seven criteria and is persistently failing to implement legislation on politically exposed persons. Meanwhile, EC Vice-President Vera Yurova has seen progress by Ukraine and Moldova in fulfilling membership criteria. However, she could not assess whether this progress was sufficient for the next stage. "The EU has no other choice but to develop. We need to develop in the direction of Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia,” Yurova explained.
The US and Ukraine will insist on European confiscation of the accrued interest on frozen Russian assets. This week in Luxembourg, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen intends to encourage European officials to take concrete steps to confiscate accrued interest on $200B that Russia keeps in European banks. At the same time, the Biden administration is also looking for other non-traditional methods of financial support for Ukraine against the background of problems with Congressional approval of new aid programs. As the head of the NBU, Andriy Pishnyi, stated, the issue of weakening Russia's financial capabilities should be approached from different angles. New tools should be added, particularly the possibility of using revenues from frozen assets to reconstruct Ukraine. "It is necessary to act from all sides: through the application of new sanctions, the removal of the Russian Federation from the international financial market, and the termination of its membership in international organizations," Pishnyi said.
13 Ukrainian citizens have been confirmed killed in Israel according to a conversation with Israeli First Lady Michal Herzog and Ukraine's First Lady Olena Zelenska as of 17 October. A total of 436 Ukrainian citizens have been evacuated.
Almost 5,000 Ukrainian families in UK face homelessness. Around 8% (4,890) of Ukrainian refugee families taken in as part of the U.K.'s "Homes for Ukraine" refugee scheme have risked, or continue to be at risk of homelessness, according to a report by the U.K.'s National Audit Office released on Oct. 17.
18 UKRAINE Country Report November 2023 www.intellinews.com