Finland’s finance chief has proposed ending compensation paid to local governments to save over $300 million
Ukrainians in Finland may receive less support under a new budget put forward by Finance Minister Riikka Purra, Yle has reported. A number of European countries that initially welcomed Ukrainian refugees have been decreasing benefits in recent months.
Last week, Purra presented her proposal for the 2026 budget, which includes ending “integration compensation” payments made to municipalities and welfare areas for asylum seekers and refugees. The plan aims to save €317 million ($344 million) over two years, and will be discussed in the government’s autumn budget negotiations before going to parliament.
The compensation scheme reimburses local governments for the costs of integrating migrants. Services covered include Finnish language training, employment support, and courses introducing newcomers to Finnish society and customs. Under the proposal, municipalities would remain legally responsible for integration but would have to find alternative funding.
Sonja Hamalainen, director of immigration at the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, told Yle that ending the payments would primarily affect Ukrainians, who currently make up most asylum seekers and refugees in Finland. She said around two-thirds of this year’s integration spending, and an estimated three-quarters next year, will go to services for Ukrainians.
Nearly 46,000 Ukrainians currently live in Finland under temporary protection.
Other European countries have also been reducing support for Ukrainian refugees. UNHCR figures show more than six million Ukrainians have moved to Europe since the escalation of the conflict in 2022, with 4.3 million granted temporary protection in the EU as of May 2025.
Last week, Germany moved to cut benefits for Ukrainians, including replacing a “citizen’s allowance” with lower asylum support for new arrivals and proposing the cancellation of unemployment benefits.
In Poland, Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz has claimed that “hundreds of thousands, or maybe even over a million” young Ukrainians are “driving the best cars around Europe and spending weekends in five-star hotels” while receiving aid.
In the UK, the BBC reported last Thursday that authorities have increasingly been denying long-term protection and work visas to Ukrainians, arguing that western regions of Ukraine are now safe.
