Recently, the European Commission has suggested withdrawing temporary protection status for military-age Ukrainian men. Some of the EU countries supported the initiative, which Ukraine also agreed to.
Nowadays, about 4.37 million Ukrainians live in the EU under this status (as of April 2026), 25% of them are military-age men. According to the European Commission, all men who already live in the territory of the EU will retain their temporary protection status, and the initiative will affect only newly arriving men. One of those who supports the proposal is German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, however, he adds that in this case, those Ukrainian men should have the right to apply for asylum. The initiative is also supported by his Austrian colleague Gerhard Karner.
There are also those who are against it. Estonian Interior Minister Igor Taro is quite skeptical. He suggests leaving things as they are, but to discuss this problem with Kyiv. Commissioner for Human Rights at the Council of Europe Michael O’Flaherty criticizes the initiative. He is also concerned about the lowering of support for Ukrainian refugees in European countries and asks for its continuation in his interview with RBK Ukraine. “Now is time for more solidarity, not less.”
The toughest reaction came from Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar. He said that Budapest didn’t support the proposal of the European Commission and promised to give asylum to all people from Transcarpathia (Ukrainian region that borders Hungary and where around 100,000 ethnic Hungarians live) fleeing Ukraine due to the mobilization. Nevertheless, despite all objections, the European Commission justifies the initiative by the fact that Ukraine itself asked for this. It’s worth noticing that the European Commission claims that the initiative will affect only newly arrived military-age Ukrainian men. However, Ukraine is already negotiating with some European countries about all military-age Ukrainian men living there. Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany Oleksii Makeiev says that the countries are actively discussing a mechanism for bringing back to Ukraine all military-age Ukrainian men.
That’s why this may affect all Ukrainian men living in the EU, especially those who left the country illegally. Nowadays, Ukrainian men aged 23 to 60 are prohibited from leaving the country due to martial law. However, there are people who still manage to leave the country illegally by bribing or crossing the border secretly through the restricted area. Most of them are people who hide from the mobilization because they don’t want to go to war.
Ukrainians don’t want to go to war for many different reasons. Some due to absence of rotation and stories about tough situations on the front-line, some due to the inability to leave their loved ones, and some due to religious beliefs. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians just don’t have a choice. They hide from the mobilization, but if they are caught, they would inevitably be sent to the front line. The fact that they’re caught and brought there against their will doesn’t give them motivation to fight.
However, before the front line, there are training centers where future soldiers are prepared for combat, and it’s a hard quest to survive there. The word “survive” here isn’t just a figure of speech. Last week, the whole of Ukraine was shocked due to the scandal in Skelya (Skelia) regiment’s training centers. Ukrainian journalists from Babel’s media team came out with an investigation about the regiment, providing evidence that future soldiers were tortured, beaten, and even killed there. Now Ukrainians demand an official investigation, but nothing has been done yet.
CEASEFIRE IMMINENT? PUTIN’S ENDGAME HAS ARRIVED
I believe that there are people whose destiny is to fight for their country with weapons in their hands, but there are also those who don’t want or can’t do it, and they have a right to it. There are a lot of different ways to help your country. For example, financial support, volunteering, or activism. Ukrainians must have a choice, but our government, unfortunately, doesn’t give us a choice for violating our rights.
That’s why many Ukrainians flee to Europe. They just want to live, and Europe, which has always been known for its democracy and respect for human rights, decided to help the Ukrainian government, not Ukrainians, and Ukrainians are unlikely to forget about it.
Yuri Mirovich is a Ukrainian refugee. He has been living in the Netherlands since 2023 and studies law at the University of Groningen. While living in Ukraine, he was engaged in active public work and now is a member of the Dutch political initiative De Beweging.