Restrictive, liberal, selective or universal? A cross-national analysis of European countries’ policy response to forced migrants from Ukraine

Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine led to the most extensive forced displacement in Europe since WWII. The European response was initially portrayed as ‘unified’ and ‘liberal’, exemplified by the EU’s activation of the Temporary Protection Directive. Yet how accurate is this narrative, and how have responses developed over time? In this introduction article, we present the novel Restrictive, Liberal, Selective or Universal migration and integration policy framework (the ReLiSU framework), and synthesise findings conducted in eight European countries: Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Our findings challenge the narrative of a unified and liberal European response to the arrival of forced migrants from Ukraine. Asylum, reception, settlement and integration policies for this group are divergent, both within and across countries, including intra-group selectivity. While Ukrainians generally received more liberal access to protection than other protection seekers, many countries imposed more restrictive integration rights or curbed permanent residency pathways. Over time, some countries’ policies shifted from the initial ‘open arms’ to more restrictive paths. Policy development for this group aligns with ongoing trends of temporariness and increased selectivity in European migration policy, often based on factors such as human capital, race, gender or geopolitical context.