BUCHAREST -- Anastasia Konovalova and her 3-year-old lived in Romania for a year after fleeing Ukraine following Russia's full-scale invasion of her homeland, working at educational centers with Ukrainian children.
She's now back home in Odesa, where she was reunited with her husband and an older son.
Konovalova, a teacher by trade, told RFE/RL's Romanian Service that despite the dangers of the ongoing Russian invasion, she felt a need to return to the Black Sea port city.
"My home is here. I wanted to be with my family. I wanted to be with my country," Konovalova explained, adding that others should follow her lead as well.
Since Russia's February 2022 full-scale invasion, some 1.9 million Ukrainians have sought refuge in, or traversed, Romania, which shares a 649-kilometer-long border with Ukraine. Some 130,000 people are registered for "temporary protection" in Romania, the latest UN data shows.
But while Romania has been lauded for its handling of the refugee crisis, the country's hospitality may be waning. A Eurobarometer poll published in February showed that the highest opposition in the EU to providing aid to Ukraine was in Romania. Bucharest has also recently reduced the amount of aid Ukrainian refugees are eligible for, while tightening the conditions to receive that money.
Instead of criticizing the Romanian government's move, Konovalova says it makes sense.
"I applaud this legislation because it's been more than a year [since the start of Russia's invasion]. People need to start working and start contributing to the country that has helped them so much," she said.
The financial support for refugees has shrunk and now comes with more strings attached. Until May, Ukrainian refugees in Romania were eligible for daily amounts of 50 lei ($11) for housing and 20 lei ($4) for food. Under the so-called 50/20 program, a single person could receive in total 2,100 lei ($454) per month. That amount has now been slashed to 1,350 lei ($292) -- 600 lei ($129) for food, 750 lei ($162) for housing -- per individual.
A family of three is entitled to 2,000 lei ($432) per month for housing, meaning the maximum total payout now is 3,800 lei ($822) per month. The aid is contingent on adults working and children being enrolled in school. It's also temporary, expiring after four months.
"The government's new policy toward Ukrainian refugees is influenced by the anti-Ukraine trend manifested in our society, but it is also a burning budgetary issue in Romania," Silvia Maria Tabusca, coordinator of the European Center for Legal Education and Research, told RFE/RL's Romanian Service.
In January, Bucharest said it had spent "hundreds of millions of euros for refugees" since the start of the Russian invasion, Bloomberg reported in April. Some of that money may have been misspent as well, contended Tabusca.
"Previous spending on the 50/20 program was unmonitored and ineffective, as in some cases money was spent that did not reach refugees," Tabusca said.
Under the old scheme, money for housing Ukrainian refugees went not to them but to those providing the accommodation. Many have complained of not being paid for months.
Despite such glitches, Romania was "very generous" with its aid to Ukrainian refugees and coped with the humanitarian crisis, said Ionut Stroe, a spokesperson for the center-right National Liberal Party (PNL), a member of the ruling coalition.
"That moment of the biggest test has passed, and the situation has somewhat stabilized as the flow of migration has basically decreased," Stroe told RFE/RL earlier this month.
Others in the ruling coalition have hinted that some Ukrainians have taken advantage of Romania's generosity.
"I have two Ukrainian cars in front of my house. I don't know if those people really don't have money for housing and food," said a deputy from the leftist Social Democratic Party (PSD), also a member of the coalition.
"On the other hand, many of our fellow citizens really don't [have enough money]," the deputy, who requested that he remain anonymous, told RFE/RL.
Konovalova said she doesn't blame Romanians for thinking some Ukrainian refugees are abusing their generosity.
"We are adults. We left the country with children, and adults should take responsibility for their lives, regardless of the situation…. When you have a whole family living in a luxury apartment somewhere in [the Black Sea port city of] Constanta, for free, they don't work, the children aren't in school, of course it's not fair. And, of course, it must be stopped," she said.
The skepticism that aid may be abused -- and perceptions of refugees living in luxury -- is perhaps reflected in a shift in public attitudes in Romania toward providing such help to Ukrainian refugees.
The Eurobarometer poll from February found that 25 percent of Romanians disapprove of providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine, the highest such figure in the EU. Plus, 35 percent of polled Romanians did not agree with providing financial support to Ukraine.
Despite those findings, Romania proved itself among the most generous in the EU toward those from Ukraine fleeing Russia's brutal assault.
A report earlier this year by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) found that 65 percent of Ukrainian refugees in Romania had their housing paid in full, compared with a European average of 35 percent.
At the opposite extreme, Ukrainian refugees in Poland paid in full for accommodation, receiving no official housing help from the state. In Romania, 72 percent of Ukrainian refugees stayed in private homes, again the highest rate among EU states covered in the FRA survey, which is based on testimony of approximately 14,500 people who fled Ukraine and settled in the EU.
The survey also found that the percentage of Ukrainians who said they had been treated unfairly at some point was the lowest in Romania, at 40 percent.
On the other hand, the percentage of Ukrainians living in Romania who want to return home was also highest in the survey, at 49 percent, compared to the average of 35 percent.
For those thinking of returning, Konovalova reminds them that life in Ukraine remains dangerous and full of risk, given the constant threat of indiscriminate Russian bombing.
"Before, we were bombed during the day, so we spent every day in the basement, and the children spent their time in school and kindergarten, also in the basement. Now, [the Russian military] bombs us at night. So nobody sleeps anymore. Sleep deprivation is the biggest problem for us. Every night we have alarms. Every day, every night, someone wants to kill us," she said.
And for those struggling in Romania, Konovalova urges her compatriots to return home, despite all the risks.
"If you haven't started learning Romanian, start now! If you can't learn the language, well…I'm here in Ukraine. I'm working. If you can't adapt there, come back….
"Many will return. And personally, I'm glad, because we need our people back here in Ukraine."
