Non-State Actors and Everyday Security: NGOs and the Integration of Ukrainian Refugees in Central and Eastern Europe

This paper examines the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as non-state actors mediating the integration of Ukrainian refugees in six second-tier cities in Central and Eastern Europe: Košice, Brno, Kraków, Poznań, Miskolc, and Uzhhorod. While migration governance and European security debates largely privilege national-level responses, considerably less attention has been paid to how local non-state actors shape everyday security, social cohesion, and refugees’ long-term settlement decisions in non-metropolitan contexts. The study employs a mixed-methods design to capture both the structural patterns and the lived experiences of integration. Between January and March 2025, a survey was conducted with 604 Ukrainian refugees across the six cities, recruited via local NGOs, community centres, and social networks. The survey data are complemented by focus groups (N = 6) with refugees and semi-structured interviews with local NGOs (N = 6), providing contextual depth. Findings reveal a persistent tension between formal inclusion and lived exclusion. Refugees are often welcomed as “guests” rather than recognised as equal members of local communities, with subtle discrimination, social distance, and bureaucratic barriers remaining prevalent. These dynamics are conceptualised as a “glass wall” of integration, whereby refugees are visible and partially included but excluded from deeper forms of social and civic belonging. NGOs emerge as critical security-relevant actors, operating both as gap-fillers in fragmented municipal systems and as brokers of belonging through the provision of psychosocial support, language training, and community-building activities. Quantitative analyses indicate that higher satisfaction with services and better access to information significantly increase refugees’ willingness to remain in the city long term, whereas formal accessibility alone does not. Overall, the findings underscore the importance of trust, perceived fairness, and information—often mediated by NGOs—for long-term settlement and local stability.