Ukraine is struggling with a demographic crisis for which traditional solutions are no longer sufficient.

The combination of a low birth rate, years of emigration, heavy losses in a three-year war with many working-age people killed and wounded, and the mass exodus of millions of people has reduced the population from 40-50 million to less than 30 million, according to the Hungarian newspaper Magyar Nemzet.

A large proportion of those who have fled are unlikely to return to Ukraine even after the war ends. A survey here in Norway two years ago showed that only around 20-25 per cent of ukrainian refugees had plans to return home.

All this means that the country is in a demographic crisis. According to Vasyl Voskobojnik, President of the Ukrainian Association of Foreign Employment Agencies, immigration is the only tool that can stabilise the Ukrainian population in the long term.

Ukraine’s shrinking population urgently needs to be replaced from the third world, says Voskobojnik. Rebuilding Ukraine and stabilising its economy going forward requires at least 8.2 million workers.

According to Voskobojnik, Ukraine can mostly attract labour from countries where the standard of living is even lower than in Ukraine. This means that immigrants can come mainly from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, as well as North African and Central Asian countries.

These workers need housing and schools for any children. They need language training. They also need a salary, a working environment and a standard of living that appeals to them.

However, it is questionable how a country whose economy and state administration are in ruins as a result of war can handle mass immigration from the third world. After all, the whole of Western Europe has failed miserably in this regard.

Ukraine lacks the resources to integrate migrants, it says. This could actually be an advantage: Western Europe’s generous support schemes and total lack of requirements for immigrants have not worked in any country, quite the opposite. Those migrants who want to make it in Ukraine have to work, which is the best form of integration.

But those migrants who are truly able and willing to work are unlikely to choose Ukraine. The wage level is simply too low. Low wages combined with the lack of a generous welfare state are unlikely to attract many migrants.

Ukraine may be approaching peace, but it faces tough years ahead. Especially if they try to solve their problems with mass immigration.

Ukraine will be rebuilt, but the “green shift” must be prioritised

Multiculture combined with green transition – heard it before?

In the past, countries expected to support Ukraine after the war have seemed most concerned that the reconstruction should represent the “green shift”. Zelenskyj promised, among other things, that the agricultural country of Ukraine would become fossil-free and invest in renewable energy.

In the summer of 2023, the World Bank estimated that the reconstruction would cost 4,700 billion kroner. These costs have, of course, continued to rise in the extra 18 months of war.

The estimate also predicted that Ukraine would win the war. Ukraine lost the war, now they may lose the peace too.

Particularly if they copy Western Europe and focus on multiculturalism, green solutions and so-called renewable energy.