Human Сapital and the Еthnic Agency of Ukrainians in the European Space: Challenges of Migration Policy in the Context of War and European Integration

Abstract

The article investigates the transformation of the ethnic subjectivity and identity of Ukrainian forced migrants in the European Union countries as a result of the full-scale war. The study analyzes the transition of Ukrainian society to a state of "achieved identity" and the formation of the "hybrid identity" phenomenon, wherein integration into the European socio-economic space is combined with the preservation of political and cultural involvement in the life of Ukraine. Based on W. Kymlicka’s concepts of liberal nationalism and multiculturalism, the processes of assimilation and inclusive integration are differentiated. Through a comparative analysis of the migration policies of Poland and Germany, institutional risks of losing Ukrainian human capital are identified (in particular, through educational assimilation and the "brain waste" phenomenon). The author substantiates the necessity of a conceptual change in state migration policy: shifting from ineffective attempts at the directive return of citizens to a strategy of "talent circulation", the development of transnational institutions, and the institutionalization of "digital citizenship" as prerequisites for the post-war reconstruction and European integration of Ukraine.