More than a thousand resettlement applications received from Ukrainian Czechs

Czech Minister of the Interior Milan Chovanec has said that more than a thousand new applications have been received from ethnic Czechs living in Ukraine to move back to the Czech Republic. The minister told Czech Radio that based on previous experience the applications would be dealt with within two years and around half the applications would be accepted. Applications from Eastern Ukraine, where the conflict between separatists and the government is at its worst, have been prioritized, he said. Minister Chovanec and prime minister Bohuslav Sobotka on Wednesday visited a facility which is temporary housing around 80 of the first wave of Ukrainian Czechs who have returned to the country. The Czech community in Ukraine was mostly established in the nineteenth century when farm workers and craftsmen sought out new opportunities there.