Taiwan pledges USD 1m to support Ukrainian refugees in Poland

Taiwan will provide USD 1 million to help Polish cities support Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion, officials have said. It is reported by Upmp.news with reference to “Polskie Radio”.

The government in Taipei announced the initiative on Saturday, The Kyiv Independent website reported.

Earlier in the week, the Alliance of Polish Metropolises (UMP) and the Taiwanese authorities signed an agreement establishing the USD 1 million fund to support Ukrainian refugees in Poland.

UMP’s CEO Tadeusz Truskolaski, who is the mayor of the northeastern Polish city of Białystok, penned the deal alongside Taiwan’s Ambassador to Poland Wu Shangnian, at a ceremony in Warsaw on Wednesday.

The USD 1 million from Taiwan will go towards enhancing the living conditions for Ukrainian refugees living in Poland, improving education opportunities for Ukrainian children and youth, and helping prepare the eventual return of refugees to Ukraine, according to officials. 

Ambassador Wu Shangnian said the funding reflected Taiwan’s “strong commitment” to supporting Ukraine and represented a “milestone” in her country’s cooperation with Polish cities and NGO’s, “in defence of democracy, freedom and human rights.”

UMP represents 12 Polish cities accounting for a fifth of the country’s population: Białystok, Bydgoszcz, Gdańsk, Katowice, Kraków, Lublin, Łódź, Poznań, Rzeszów, Szczecin, Wrocław and Warsaw.

As of December 15, Poland was home to 956,635 refugees from Ukraine, according to the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Refugees.

Sunday is day 669 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.

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Source: UMP, UNHCR, The Kyiv Independent