Czech opposition party against long-term residence option for Ukrainians

Tomio Okamura, the President of Czechia's Chamber of Deputies and Head of the Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party, has said ahead of a meeting of the coalition council composed of representatives of ANO, SPD and Motorists for Themselves, Czechia's right-wing political parties, that his party's ministers would vote in government against a draft measure that would allow refugees from Ukraine to apply for a special long-term residence permit this year.

"SPD ministers will vote against the proposal. I have already informed the coalition and the prime minister," Okamura said, as quoted by Ceske Noviny.

Okamura said that SPD believes no foreigner should have simplified conditions for obtaining a long-term residence permit in Czechia compared to others.

"It is necessary for everyone to meet the standard conditions and for there to be no exceptions," he added.

Okamura said that the coalition is working on tightening the conditions for all foreigners staying in Czechia. He said that Interior Minister Lubomír Metnar is due to prepare a relevant bill no later than May.

Under current rules prepared by the interior ministry, the conditions for acquiring a special long-term residence permit would not change. For example, refugees must have lived in Czechia under temporary protection for at least two years or have an annual income of more than CZK440,000 (US$21,500).

Last year, about 80,000 Ukrainians applied for the special long-term residence permit and more than 16,000 people received it. Some organisations raised concerns about the conditions, saying they were strict and applied to a narrow group of refugees.

However, under the ministry's previous statement, the rules were drafted with standard criteria that a foreigner must meet to acquire residence in Czechia.

At the end of last year, 393,056 people in Czechia, about 3.6% of the population, had temporary protection. It provides the Ukrainian war refugees with access to state health insurance, education and the labour market.

Czechia's Cabinet of Ministers (Czechia's government) said earlier that it wants to follow the previous government of Petr Fiala on the special long-term residence scheme for Ukrainian refugees.

At the end of 2025, 4.35 million Ukrainians had temporary protection in the EU, and around 24,600 people obtained it in the last month of the year.