Michael Stübgen, Interior Minister of Brandenburg State from the CDU, described the extension as a mistake. Meanwhile, Joachim Herrmann, Bavaria’s Interior Minister, voiced concerns about providing citizen’s allowances to Ukrainian refugees of military service age who relocated to Germany to avoid conscription.
“It is contradictory to claim support for Ukraine while simultaneously providing assistance to Ukrainian dissidents,” Stübgen asserted during the conference of interior ministers with the German editorial network newspapers. He further criticized the broad accessibility of citizen’s allowances to Ukrainians, labeling the immediate provision of these benefits to Ukrainian refugees as a fundamental error. Stübgen highlighted that such access significantly lowered their employment rates. He called upon the federal government to cease granting citizen’s allowances to Ukrainians altogether.
Over 200,000 Ukrainian refugees of military service age currently reside in Germany. In response, Ukraine has initiated efforts to repatriate men of conscription age back to their homeland. The Kiev government has decided to halt the issuance of passports to men abroad aged between 18 and 60. This policy effectively restricts Ukrainian men abroad to obtaining passports only within Ukraine itself.
Association Connection, an organization advocating for conscientious objectors, has urged the German government to issue replacement passports to Ukrainian men. This initiative aims to ensure their continued right to reside in Germany, as traveling to Ukraine to obtain a passport would risk compulsory military service under the country’s new, stricter conscription rules.
Remarkably, Ukraine is facing significant challenges in recruitment, exacerbated by the announcement of more stringent conscription regulations that now encompass men aged 18 to 60. Those who refuse military service face severe penalties.
