Czech Republic, another dozen countries ask EU for money for refugees

The governments of a dozen European Union countries, including the Czech Republic, have asked the European Commission to release more money in aid of the refugee wave from the war-stricken Ukraine in a joint letter, the text of which was released by Brussels-based news outlet Politico. They propose that extraordinary reserves from the EU budget be allocated to this purpose and subsidies for particular countries in cohesion funds be used more flexibly. More than five million people have left Ukraine since the war with Russia started, with a majority of them staying in neighbouring Poland and the others in eastern EU member states, including the Czech Republic and Slovakia.