Many Ukrainian men have been killed on the frontline or fled the country to avoid being killed on the frontline, leaving the country with a greatly depleted workforce. This is not news.
But now, Ukraine’s former minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has come out saying that Ukraine may have to open its borders to Asian migrants because of this reality. And this is on the back of Ukraine already having the worst population growth in Europe, even before the war. Already back in 2023, Remix News reported on the unfortunate reality of Ukrainian women fleeing the war.
“The population collapse will soon cause very serious economic and social problems,” Italian daily Corriere della Sera wrote at the time.
Kuleba also clarified why there’s no chance of raising the retirement age anytime soon.
According to him, emigration due to war is “good for the people” but “bad for the state,” he told UNIAN.
“The more people leave the country, the worse it is for the country. In addition, we will have a lot of old, unproductive people left, and it will be extremely difficult to raise the retirement age. Because young people go to demonstrations, and grandmothers and grandfathers go to elections. Therefore, they will elect politicians who do not raise the retirement age,” the former minister explained.
At the same time, Kuleba said Ukraine has to focus on people “who need this country and are ready to rebuild it.” These people exist, although they are in the minority, he said. The only real solution is to bring in migrants.
“Bangladesh, Nepal, India, the Philippines, and Vietnam, for example, offer great opportunities. We are facing difficult times. But I am calm because I see that there are enough people in the country who need it,” he added.
It has already been well documented that a majority of Ukrainian refugees in Western Europe have no intention of going home, even after the war.
Although some maintain that those in neighboring countries may return, a poll from 2024 showed different intentions, with two-thirds of Ukrainian refugees living in Poland, Germany, and Czechia claiming to be happy with their new lives and indicating they will seek citizenship in their respective host countries.
Meanwhile, UNIAN also noted that Ukrainian schools have reported 62,000 fewer first-year students this year than last year — not a surprising fact given Ukraine’s already low birth rate and the floods of women and children who have already left.
