The executive body of the EU plans to complicate the obtaining of a simplified protection status in the European Union for newly arriving Ukrainian men of conscription age. Citizens who, according to the legislation of their country, do not have a legal right to leave the territory of Ukraine will in the future encounter a significant reduction in chances for a legal stay in the countries of the association. This initiative reflects the striving of European institutions to synchronize internal migration legislation with the defense needs of Kyiv and the regulatory-legal framework of Ukraine in the sphere of mobilization.
In order to assist the maintenance of the defense capability of Ukraine, newly arriving persons will not be automatically provided with temporary protection if they have not received an official permission to leave from the Ukrainian authorities, reported representatives of the executive body on Friday morning. But to exclude a violation of international law, each application for the provision of protection status will be considered individually on general rights. It is worth noting that in Ukraine, practically from the moment of the beginning of combat actions, a ban on leaving the country has been operating for men of conscription age. Official exceptions are provided for fathers who have three and more minor children in their dependence, as well as for persons recognized as unfit for military service due to health status by military-medical commissions, and for a few more categories of citizens of Ukraine.
Until the present time, refugees from Ukraine enjoyed the norms of the so-called Directive on the Mass Influx of Displaced Persons, adopted by the Council of the EU back in 2002 and first activated in 2022. This regulatory document allows to promptly obtain temporary protection status in the European Union without passing through the standard, bureaucratized, and lengthy procedure of considering individual petitions for the provision of asylum. This system substantially facilitates the reception of Ukrainian citizens and, according to the plans of the European Commission, must be extended until March 2028; however, now its operation is proposed to be made selective.
In the case of approval of the proposed measures, newly arriving persons in the EU who fall under mobilization restrictions will have to submit standard applications for the provision of asylum. Their requests will be considered in a general individual order, which can substantially reduce the general probability of obtaining a residence permit, since evasion from conscription according to the laws of the majority of EU countries in itself is not an unconditional ground for the provision of refugee status.
At the same time, representatives of the European Commission emphasized that in the case of the final adoption of this decision by the Council of the EU, this decision will not spread to Ukrainian men already possessing protection status.
The executive body of the European Union substantiates its proposal including by the topical needs of the Ukrainian side.
The country continues to experience the necessity in attracting a significant number of military personnel to hold the front line and rotate combat units. According to information from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, tens of thousands of men are subject to mobilization monthly. Simultaneously with this, the state encounters the problem of illegal exit of persons striving to avoid conscription. Germany and a number of other states of the European Union in the course of the recent weeks have also spoken out in favor of revising the operating preferences, pointing to the necessity of reducing the financial load on local budgets and a fair distribution of duties.
The Chairman of the CDU/CSU faction in the Bundestag, Alexander Dobrindt, has already expressed support for this initiative, noting the importance of strengthening the personnel potential of the Ukrainian army. Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz previously also stated that Ukrainian men of conscription age must if possible remain in their country and participate in its restoration and defense.
The final decision on the proposal of the European Commission now lies ahead to be adopted by the member states of the European Union at the level of the Council of the EU. In the case of their approval, the new rules can enter into force in the coming months and will spread exclusively to newly arriving men, not affecting those who already obtained protection status earlier.
Thus, the initiative of the European Commission marks itself as a transition from a policy of unconditional provision of humanitarian asylum to a more pragmatic approach taking into account inter-state interests and the internal legislation of the country of origin of the refugees. The implementation of these measures will require from the EU states a restructuring of the mechanisms of border and migration control, and also can create a precedent of changing the conditions of providing temporary protection depending on the demographic and legal status of the applicants.
Sources: dpa, AFP
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