The admission of Ukrainian refugees from the perspective of municipalities in Czechia

Abstract

The article deals with the migration of 500,000 Ukrainian refugees to Czechia after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. The study examines the challenges municipalities had to deal with in connection with the reception of Ukrainian refugees. For this, a primary questionnaire survey, statistical analysis of the obtained data, and analysis of documents were conducted. An original historical-processual and retrograde approach was used to explain the genesis and development of the refugees’ reception. A two-dimensional model (matrix) was developed to find out how municipalities dealt with the reception of refugees. The main contribution of this study is the development of a typology of different approaches of actors in multilevel governance to dealing with the emergent situation and empirically supported conclusions as to how well municipalities have managed to coexist with the newly arrived Ukrainians. The study thus provides a unique insight into what issues municipalities are dealing with and how difficult it is for them to manage this rather unusual situation.