Zelensky submits bill on legal, social guarantees for Polish citizens in Ukraine to Verkhovna Rada

MOSCOW. July 12 (Interfax) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has invited the Verkhovna Rada to provide legal and social guarantees for Polish citizens staying in Ukraine.

Bill 7550 was registered in the Verkhovna Rada on July 11, Ukrainian media outlets said.

The bill aims to improve living conditions of Polish citizens in Ukraine. According to the explanatory note, the Ukrainian president submitted the bill after Poland adopted the law on assistance to Ukrainian citizens amid the armed conflict in the Ukrainian territory, which regulates key aspects of the stay of Ukrainian citizens, defines assistance mechanisms, facilitates their employment, and legalizes their presence in Poland.

The bill submitted by the Ukrainian president envisages the legal 18-month presence of Polish citizens and their family members - spouses and children (irrespective of their citizenship) in Ukraine.

The bill says that Polish citizens legally staying in Ukraine have the right to get a job, conduct economic activity, study, or access healthcare services on the same terms as Ukrainian citizens, in addition to receiving certain social benefits consistent with current Ukrainian laws.

Polish citizens who are qualified as a doctor, nurse (medical brother) or midwife (obstetrician) will be allowed to do relevant job in Ukraine for 18 months, Verkhovna Rada representative to the Constitutional Court Olha Sovhirya (Servant of the People faction) said. Such professional activity of Polish citizens is allowed exclusively in Ukrainian healthcare establishments.

According to a statement published on the Ukrainian presidential website, the bill envisages rights and guarantees for Polish citizens staying in Ukraine proportionately to the law adopted by Poland on March 12 "to express gratitude to the Polish people for their solidarity and support for Ukraine and to act on the principle of reciprocity."