Romania

Romania’s local deaf community in Botoșani has welcomed at least 200 deaf people from Ukraine since the war began. They are focused on getting people to safety and ensuring that up-to-date information is available for sign language speakers.

In efforts to justify his war in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin will often raise the specter of NATO missile defense systems in eastern Europe. The Pentagon claims that the facilities can only fire missile interceptors. Landing at the center of this debate is the Romanian town of Deveselu, home to one of just two missile defense systems in Europe.

In the Ukrainian city of Odessa, fears of an attack there have led thousands to flee across the border.

Though Poland has taken in the bulk of refugees, two of Europe’s poorest nations — Romania and Moldova — have accepted more than 160,000 people so far. 

While several European countries have welcomed Ukrainian refugees, the reception and treatment of refugees trying to reach Europe from the Middle East and Africa is quite different. H.A. Hellyer, a scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, says implicit bias creates this double standard.