Political Debates and the Integration of Ukrainian Refugees in Germany

Amid refugee movements from conflict zones like Syria, South Sudan, and Ukraine, refugee integration is a pressing concern. Previous research highlights how domestic policies and rhetoric can shape refugee integration. Less is known about the impact of host-country rhetoric on military support for refugees' countries of origin, even though such debates may signal societal acceptance or rejection. We study whether such debates affect how refugees perceive their host societies in the case of Ukrainian refugees in Germany after Russia's full-scale invasion. In a survey experiment, we exposed participants to statements from German politicians with different levels of opposition to military aid to Ukraine. Although exposure to opposition statements shifted refugees' perceptions of Germany's military support, it did not significantly affect overall views of Germany's support for Ukrainian refugees, sense of belonging, or return intentions. Exploring mechanisms, we find suggestive evidence that a decrease in salience of the debate over time explains why we observe no downstream effects.