EU Tightens Rules for Ukrainian Draft-Age Men

The EU has decided to end simplified admission rules for Ukrainian men of military age who are subject to an exit ban, requiring new arrivals to seek asylum for protection and residence permits, Zeit Online reported.

An EU spokesperson said the bloc wants to make it harder for military-age Ukrainians to flee and that the change follows a decision by the Council of member states. The regulation will be published shortly in the EU Official Journal and enter into force one day later, according to the report.

The European Commission said it acted at Ukraine’s request, supported by Germany and other member states. The German government had advocated restrictions on protection status for Ukrainian refugees; Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he had asked President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “to ensure that these young men stay in the country because they are needed there and not in Germany.”

Under the new rules, simplified admission will apply only to Ukrainians who have completed military service or are exempt, according to Zeit Online. Men barred from leaving because of the war, particularly those aged 23 to 60 under current Ukrainian rules, will have to file asylum applications. Exceptions are planned for fathers of at least three minor children and for men exempt from military service on health grounds.

The change will apply only to Ukrainians newly arriving in the EU. People who already have protection status will not lose it, and other simplified admission rules for women, children and men with permission to leave Ukraine have been extended until March 2028 under the EU Temporary Protection Directive.

Zelenskyy says Ukraine mobilizes up to 34,000 men a month, while former defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov says more than two million conscripts are being sought, according to the report. Zeit Online also reported that forcibly recruited people are held in prison-like facilities in Ukraine, citing rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinez’s regular reports of deaths during forced recruitment and a recent press report on beatings, torture and torment in one unit.