Poland will not “protect” Ukrainians avoiding military service – Respublika.lt

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Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Andrzej Szejna. “Polsat” photo.

Poland will not “defend” conscription-evading Ukrainians on its soil, the deputy foreign minister said on Tuesday, as Warsaw urged the European Union (EU) to take action on the issue.

Poland will not “defend” conscription-evading Ukrainians on its soil, the deputy foreign minister said on Tuesday, as Warsaw urged the European Union (EU) to take action on the issue.

Ukraine, now in its third year at war with embattled Russia, is struggling to recruit more soldiers to its army and recently passed a mobilization law that lowered the age of conscription and toughened penalties for evading military service.

Last week, it announced that it would no longer issue new passports abroad to men of conscription age and suspended consular services for Ukrainians aged 18-60 living abroad. This has angered Ukrainian emigrants in Poland and elsewhere.

According to the United Nations (UN), there are tens of thousands of Ukrainian men of conscription age in Poland.

“We certainly won’t protect service evaders,” Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Szejna told state TV channel TVP. He added that Warsaw had not received any official request from Ukraine for men of conscription age. “When Ukraine turns to Poland with a request, we will act in accordance with Polish and European law,” said A. Szejna.

Last week, the defense ministers of Poland and Lithuania, Ukraine’s staunch allies, said they could help bring men of conscription age back to the war-torn country.

“Everything is possible,” Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz told Polsat TV when asked if Warsaw would agree if Ukraine asked for help.

On Tuesday, he called for Europe-wide decisions on the matter.

“I know that negotiations between Kyiv and Brussels on this topic are still ongoing,” said W. Kosiniaks-Kamysz, adding that action “at the European level will ensure full effectiveness.”

in 2022 After Russia invaded Ukraine in February, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians fled the war, most of them via Poland.

According to the UN refugee agency UNHCR, in February of this year, 952,104 Ukrainian refugees were registered in Poland, of which approximately 150 thousand people are of conscription age.