EU Considers Restricting Temporary Protection for Ukrainian Men

The European Union is considering restricting Ukrainians’ access to temporary protection, the scheme that has allowed more than four million people to live in EU member states since 2022.

Countries including Poland and Germany are pushing to exclude military-age men from the status, which grants the right to reside and work in the EU until March 2027.

Under current rules, Ukrainians can obtain refugee-like protection without applying for asylum through the EU’s Temporary Protection Directive, an exceptional measure activated days after Russia’s full-scale invasion and renewed annually ever since.

At a meeting of EU interior ministers in Luxembourg on Thursday, several options for narrowing the scheme were discussed, diplomats told Euronews.

The proposal gaining the most support would exclude Ukrainian men aged 23 to 60 who are eligible for military service.

According to the European Commission, any revised approach should take into account whether applicants were legally authorised to leave Ukraine. Under martial law, most men aged 23 to 60 are barred from leaving the country, although exemptions exist for certain groups, including people with disabilities, those deemed unfit for military service, fathers of three or more children under 18, and individuals providing full-time care for sick relatives.

While Ukraine’s formal conscription age begins at 25, men are generally prohibited from leaving the country from the age of 23.

Despite these restrictions, some draft-age men have crossed Ukraine’s borders illegally and subsequently obtained protection in EU countries. Adult men account for 26.6% of Ukrainian refugees in Europe, although there are no figures showing how many are of military age or how many arrived irregularly.

“We have noticed that the influx of [Ukrainian] people of compulsory military age has increased in the last few months,” German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said,

Although temporary protection applies across the EU, eligibility checks vary between member states.

Belgium, for example, requires applicants to provide proof that they legally exited Ukraine, making it harder for those who left irregularly to obtain protection. Poland, by contrast, grants protection to Ukrainians once they reach Polish territory.

EU countries hosting the highest number of beneficiaries are Germany (1,274,955 people; 29.4% of the EU total), Poland (961,405; 22.2%) and Czechia (379,820; 8.8%).

A tighter temporary protection regime would also align with the position of the Ukrainian government. Last year, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said military-age men who had left the country “should return” and urged partner countries to “address the issue”.

Another option tabled during the discussion was to refuse temporary protection to Ukrainians coming from areas of the country that are deemed “safe.”

However, several governments opposed the idea, arguing that no part of Ukraine can be regarded as insulated from the war.

“This solution is not acceptable for us,” Polish Undersecretary of State Maciej Duszczyk said. "We know exactly what is happening in Ukraine. Sometimes Polish citizens who live near the border also hear the explosions of Russian missiles that attack civilian targets very close to our borders."

Other countries, such as Spain or Italy, back extending the current framework, keeping its scope unchanged.

"All Ukrainian citizens should remain [...] protected in all EU countries. Of course, we also need to move towards effective integration and voluntary returns, according to the circumstances," Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said.

EU sources told Euronews that the European Commission could present a formal proposal in the coming weeks, or at the latest before the summer recess.