At Kyiv’s request: The EU is set to revoke temporary protection for Ukrainians of military age
5 June 11:15
The European Union is considering the possibility of revoking the right to temporary protection for Ukrainians of conscription age, a status that allows them to live and work in the EU without having to apply for refugee status. This was announced by European Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner following a meeting of EU interior ministers in Luxembourg, according to Deutsche Welle, as reported by "Komersant Ukrainian".
The day before, the governments of Austria, Germany, Poland, and Sweden publicly supported such measures.
“This is also what Ukrainians are asking us to do,” Brunner said.
A final decision has not yet been made. Brunner added that in the coming weeks, the European Commission will present proposals regarding the future temporary protection mechanism, which currently covers 4.8 million Ukrainians and remains in effect until March 2027. At the same time, EU countries support extending the program itself until 2028.
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European diplomats said that the initiative to remove Ukrainian men aged 23 to 60 from temporary protection received strong support at a meeting of interior ministers. Due to martial law, such individuals are prohibited from leaving Ukraine. Exceptions include people with disabilities deemed unfit for military service, parents of three or more minor children, and those caring for seriously ill relatives.
According to diplomats, the European Commission believes that the new temporary protection mechanism should take into account whether applicants had a legal right to leave Ukraine. Adult men account for 26.6% of Ukrainian refugees in Europe, but there is no data on what proportion of them are of draft age and how many arrived illegally.
The largest numbers of such temporary protection recipients are in Germany (about 1.27 million people), Poland (961,000), and the Czech Republic (380,000). Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has advocated for the return of men of military age to Ukraine. As early as 2025, he called on Western partners to “address this issue.”
On May 29, Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga reported that a total of 8 million Ukrainians are currently forced to remain abroad due to the war with Russia.
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