Recently, the European Commission has suggested withdrawing temporary protection status for military-age Ukrainian men. Some of the EU countries supported the initiative, which Ukraine also agreed to.
Nowadays, about 4.37 million Ukrainians live in the EU under this status (as of April 2026), 25% of them are military-age men. According to the European Commission, all men who already live in the territory of the EU will retain their temporary protection status, and the initiative will affect only newly arriving men. One of those who supports the proposal is German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, however, he adds that in this case, those Ukrainian men should have the right to apply for asylum. The initiative is also supported by his Austrian colleague Gerhard Karner.
