European Union members are discussing the exclusion of Ukrainian men of military age from the scope of the temporary protection directive. The request came from Ukraine, said EU Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner on June 4, DW reports.
We are talking about men from Ukraine aged 23 to 60.
“This is also what the Ukrainians are asking us to do”, said Brunner, commenting on the discussions on the abolition of temporary protection for Ukrainian men.
The Deputy Minister for Migration of Cyprus – the country holding the presidency of the Council of the EU – Nicolas Ioannidis announced that all EU members agree that the Temporary Protection Directive for Ukrainians should be extended until March 2028. However, according to him, many countries are advocating for "changes in the scope of protection under certain conditions".
The European Commission is expected to present a proposal for further temporary protection for Ukrainian refugees in the coming weeks.
On June 1, Euractiv reported that European countries are considering the possibility of excluding from the extended temporary protection program men of military age who have left Ukraine illegally.
On June 2, the representative of the Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs of the European Commission, Corinna Ulrich, confirmed that such discussions are underway, and specified that these restrictions will not affect Ukrainians who already benefit from temporary protection — that's over 1.15 million Ukrainian male refugees in the EU.
The decision to extend temporary protection for Ukrainian refugees could be made in July or as early as September 2026.