THE EU HAS proposed stopping granting Ukrainian men of fighting age refugee protection to settle in the bloc, while extending the right beyond 2027 for others from the country.
Brussels said the change follows a request from Kyiv, whose army has struggled with manpower shortages as Russia’s war of invasion grinds into a fifth year.
Under the commission’s proposal, the welcome for Ukrainians granted protection will be extended until March 2028, including for military-age men already living in Ireland and the rest of the bloc.
But new coming males aged 23 to 60 – who are prohibited from leaving the country under Ukraine’s martial law – will be excluded from the scheme once the plan is adopted by EU member states, the commission said, noting that however they will still be able to apply for asylum.
“Our proposal provides that temporary protection should not be granted to newly arriving persons who are not allowed to leave Ukraine because of their military obligations,” Magnus Brunner, the European Union’s internal affairs chief told journalists.
Ukrainian forces are believed to have suffered somewhere between 500,000 and 600,000 casualties since 2022, including killed, wounded and missing.
This includes between 100,000 and 140,000 fatalities, according to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. The US think tank estimates that Russia has suffered nearly 1.2 million casualties.
The 27-nation EU granted Ukrainians temporary protection after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, a measure rolled over several times and currently set to expire next March.
About 4.4 million people currently benefit from the scheme, which grants them residence permits, the right to work, and access to medical assistance, social welfare and education.
In Ireland, of the 84,100 people found to be in administrative data held by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), men aged 20 years and over made up 28% of arrivals – some 23,548 people. However, it is not known how many men were over the age of 60 in that data.
This aligns with the average across the EU, where adult men account for about 27% of all Ukrainians currently benefiting from EU protection. Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic host the largest communities.
Brussels said it will also develop a pilot programme to support Ukrainians who wish to return home with practical support in areas such as jobs, housing and education.
“As the war continues, our support must also continue,” Brunner said, adding that the commission’s proposal took into account “Ukraine’s evolving defence needs and recovery needs.”
“This is something the Ukrainians asked us to do,” he said of the decision to limit protection for men of fighting age.
With reporting by AFP