Poland promotes the idea of restricting EU temporary protection for Ukrainian men of conscription age
Poland advocates for excluding Ukrainian men of conscription age from the extended EU temporary protection scheme currently being discussed by member states. This was reported by RMF24 citing a Polish diplomat.
According to the publication, Warsaw also supports the gradual phasing out of special conditions for Ukrainian refugees and a transition to standard migration rules. Poland is sending corresponding signals to Brussels, where closed consultations on possible changes to the current system are ongoing.
The issue is planned to be discussed by EU interior ministers. It is expected that following the discussion, the European Commission will prepare a new proposal to extend temporary protection until 2028, but with adjustments.
The temporary protection system for Ukrainian citizens was introduced by the EU in 2022 after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion and has been extended annually. It allowed over 4 million Ukrainians to legally reside and work in EU countries without undergoing the standard asylum procedure. The current regime expires in March next year.
The EU acknowledges that the mechanism, created as a temporary solution, cannot operate permanently without legislative changes. Therefore, a "coordinated transitional strategy" is being considered, which involves transitioning some Ukrainians to national residence permits and, in the long term, voluntary return to Ukraine after the war ends.
The Polish diplomat quoted by RMF FM stated that several options for system changes are under consideration. One of them involves excluding new applicants of conscription age from temporary protection, and Poland supports this option.
He also noted that, according to Warsaw, people who cannot legally leave Ukraine should not automatically receive temporary protection in the EU. Poland believes this does not contradict humanitarian principles but merely aligns the rules with other categories of foreigners and cancels the "exceptional regime" of automatic status.
At the same time, Poland does not support another proposed change involving geographical restrictions based on refugees' regions of origin. This approach is used, for example, by Norway, which excludes people from recognized safe regions of Ukraine, such as Lviv, Volyn, and Zakarpattia regions, from automatic protection. Warsaw considers this approach unfair, as it believes the entire territory of Ukraine remains under threat of missile strikes.
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