Berlin, 4 December 2024 (dpa/MIA) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday said unemployed Ukrainian refugees must be encouraged to take up employment or return to their home country.

"Too many of them have been here for so long, so to speak, and should actually get started now," Scholz told lawmakers in the Bundestag, Germany's lower house of parliament.

Germany must ensure that as many Ukrainians and other refugees as possible seek work after learning German and other integration measures.

Previous successes with the government's so-called "job turbo" programme were not enough, he argued.

Two days after his visit to Kiev, Scholz said he had spoken "at great length" with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about the issue.

Scholz reported Zelensky is aiming to "help set up a Ukrainian authority in Germany and Poland to support Ukrainians" to either find work or return home.

Authorities in Kiev have renamed the reintegration ministry - which is responsible for helping returning Ukrainians - as the ministry of national unity.

Ukraine has been defending itself against a Russian invasion for more than two and a half years with Western help.

According to the United Nations, almost seven million Ukrainians have fled abroad.

More than one million of them, mainly women with children, are in Germany. Over 260,000 of the Ukrainian refugees have a job.

Photo: dpa