The Government informed whether men should expect forced return from abroad
30 April 2024 17:36
In an interview with DW, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Olha Stefanishyna clarified one of the most discussed topics of the last week – whether men of military age will be forcibly returned to Ukraine from abroad. According to her, there will be no restrictions and no forced return of Ukrainian citizens of any gender or age to a country at war, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
Stefanishyna stressed that providing one’s data to the CCC does not mean automatic mobilisation to the front.
“Ukraine has passed a law on mobilisation and we need to understand to what extent we can replace the guys at the front. We are talking about the mobilisation potential – accounting and information. This is the primary goal of our decision,”
– Stefanishyna said.
According to her, in May, European Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration Ilvi Johansson will visit Ukraine to discuss the future legal status of Ukrainians abroad, as the current mechanism of temporary protection in the EU will be in force until March 2025.
“Therefore, there will be no restrictions and no forced return of Ukrainian citizens of any gender or age to a country at war. But there are no pleasant solutions in matters of war, and let’s not forget that the war is ongoing and we have to win it,”
– said the Vice Prime Minister.
What preceded this statement
on 23 April, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ordered the heads of all diplomatic missions of Ukraine to temporarily suspend consular activities with Ukrainian citizens of conscription age until the provisions of the law on mobilisation are clarified.
on 24 April, the Cabinet of Ministers announced that Ukrainian men of military age would not be able to obtain passports abroad. Access to consular services will only be possible with valid military registration documents that have been updated in the TCC.
On the same day, Polish Defence Minister Władysław Kosyniak-Kamysz said that his country would be ready to help return male citizens of military age to Ukraine.
At the same time, the official representative of the German Ministry of the Interior, Maximilian Kall, said that the country would not deprive Ukrainian men of mobilisation age of refugee status.
on 25 April, Lithuanian Defence Minister Laurinas Kasciunas said that Lithuania planned to review Poland’s experience and join it in restricting Ukrainian men of military age from receiving social benefits, work permits and documents.
The next day, on 26 April, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said at a joint press conference with the Latvian Foreign Minister that the return of men of military age from abroad to Ukraine was a matter of justice for those men who are defending Ukraine at the front.
Despite this statement, a few days later, the Polish Foreign Ministry said that the issue of the forced return of men to Ukraine is “ethically ambiguous”.
And today, the Estonian Ministry of Internal Affairs announced that they do not plan to forcibly repatriate men of military age with expired passports to Ukraine if they are legally in the country.
