Military-age Ukrainian men could lose EU protection
The European Commission has suggested withdrawing protection status for military-age Ukrainian males. A number of EU countries support the move — and so does Kyiv
The European Commission has suggested withdrawing protection status for military-age Ukrainian males. A number of EU countries support the move — and so does Kyiv. "Our proposal provides that temporary protection should not be granted to newly arriving persons who are not allowed to leave Ukraine because of their military obligations," said Magnus Brunner, the European commissioner for internal affairs and migration, while announcing proposed changes to European protective status for Ukrainians on Friday. Protection status for Ukrainians as such should remain in place, said Brunner at a meeting of EU interior ministers in Luxembourg in early June, though new conditions could apply. Blanket temporary protection granted without review Ukrainians forced to flee their country as a result of Russia's invasion of their homeland have enjoyed temporary protection status in the EU since March 2022. That status is set to end in early March 2027, and must now be extended before it expires. The difference between this status and asylum is that the protection is temporary and those entering the bloc are not subject to individual case-by-case review. Young Ukrainian men face prospect of lower conscription age To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The proposal by the European Commission is formulated in gender-neutral terms, emphasized one EU official.
But ultimately, it will most likely affect men between the ages of 23 and 60. The update worked out in the new proposal — which does not apply to Ukrainians already in the EU — would only come into effect when the Council of Europe officially approves and publishes it in the Official Journal of the European Union, underscored another Commission official. On March 31, the EU's statistics agency Eurostat counted a total of 4.33 million Ukrainians living in the bloc under temporary protection status. Of these, nearly 1.3 million (29.4% of the EU total) were in Germany, followed by 950,000 in Poland (22.2% of the total) and 380,000 in the Czech Republic (8.8%). Slightly more than one-quarter of those in the bloc were adult males, said the agency. Time for 'more solidarity, not less' Michael O'Flaherty, commissioner for human rights at the Council of Europe — which is not an EU institution — criticized the proposal. O'Flaherty expressed concern over "mounting pressure to prematurely end temporary protection arrangements" and to limit access for military-age males, among others. The commissioner said that now is the time for "more solidarity, not less." The EU has justified the new proposal by saying Ukraine had requested the move, and that Kyiv's need to impress military obligations upon its own citizens to defend itself were legitimate.
The BriefWire