Over 18,000 refugees have come from Ukraine to Germany

BERLIN

: Over 18,000 refugees have come to

Germany

from

Ukraine

so far and about 3,000 of them are not Ukrainian nationals, a German Interior Ministry spokesperson said on Friday.

"But of course, people who are now fleeing the war zone can enter the EU, regardless of whether they are Ukrainian

asylum

seekers or third-country nationals," the spokesperson said.

He added that most of the non-Ukrainians had a permanent residence in Ukraine, which means they do not have to go through an asylum procedure.