Ukrainians viewed most favourably as Lithuanians’ attitudes towards migrants worsen

As attitudes toward migrants in Lithuania grow more negative, Ukrainians remain the most favoured group, according to a survey commissioned by the Vilnius office of the International Organization for Migration (IOM Lithuania).

Eitvydas Bingelis, head of IOM Lithuania, said in a press release that the recently published survey results show Ukrainians are perceived the most favourably compared to migrants from other countries.

Survey respondents gave Ukrainians an average favourability score of nearly seven out of ten.

Belarusian migrants are the second most favoured group (5/10), followed in third place by labour migrants from Central Asia (4.83/10). Migrants from the Middle East (4.13/10) and those who crossed into Lithuania via the Belarusian border in 2021 (3.73/10) were rated less favourably.

“Although attitudes toward migrants have generally worsened, Ukrainians are still perceived positively, which suggests they are integrating well into Lithuanian society by learning the language, working as employees, or starting their own businesses,” Bingelis said.

The survey also revealed that respondents see Lithuanian language courses as the most important integration measure for Ukrainians, with 65 percent highlighting it as a priority.

Other measures included assistance with paperwork (40 percent), organising educational and extracurricular activities for children (31 percent), and providing labour market services, vocational training, and skills assessments (29 percent).

Half of those surveyed believe Ukrainian war refugees who have learned the language and found jobs should be allowed to stay in Lithuania after the war. Another 34 percent would not object to Ukrainians staying if they wish. Meanwhile, one in ten respondents felt that Ukrainians should leave Lithuania once the war is over.

Over 74,000 Ukrainians currently live in Lithuania. Most of them arrived after Russia started the full-scale invasion of their country in 2022.

Spinter Tyrimai polled 1,000 people in October. The results of the representative survey have a margin of error of 3.1 percent.