By Olena Harmash
KYIV (Reuters) – European governments ought to halt welfare advantages to Ukrainian males of army age who’re residing of their international locations, Poland’s international minister stated, a measure he stated would assist Ukraine name up extra troops to struggle Russian forces.
Following a gathering in Kyiv along with his Ukrainian counterpart, Poland’s Radoslaw Sikorski stated ending social advantages for Ukrainian male refugees would additionally profit state funds in host international locations in Western Europe.
Greater than 4.1 million Ukrainians had short-term safety standing in European Union international locations as of July this yr, and about 22% of them had been grownup males, in line with knowledge from the EU statistics workplace, Eurostat.
“Stop paying those social security payments for people who are eligible for the Ukrainian draft. There should be no financial incentives for avoiding the draft in Ukraine,” Sikorski stated at a convention of worldwide leaders in Kyiv.
“It’s not a human right to be paid to avoid the draft, to defend your country. We in Poland don’t do it.”
Ukrainian Overseas Minister Andrii Sybiha welcomed Sikorski’s name.
“It’s time really to raise the question of the European Union developing programmes to return Ukrainians home. Certainly, appropriate conditions should be created for this. But this should be on the agenda. And I support the idea of Minister Sikorski,” Sybiha stated.
Practically 31 months into the conflict in opposition to Russia and with Moscow’s forces slowly however steadily advancing in japanese Ukraine, Kyiv wants extra troopers to keep up its defence strains, rotate out exhausted troops and make up for losses.
Russia has a major benefit in workers numbers and weapons on the battlefield.
Earlier this yr, Ukraine adopted new laws and carried out different measures, together with decreasing the call-up age for fight obligation to 25 from 27 to extend the tempo of mobilisation into the military.
Below the brand new legislation, Kyiv ordered Ukrainian males residing overseas to resume their army draft data on-line and inspired them to return to Ukraine and be a part of the struggle.
Ukraine imposed martial legislation firstly of Russia’s invasion in February 2022, banning males aged 18 to 60 from travelling overseas with out particular permission and starting a rolling mobilisation of civilian males into the armed forces.
However many males of army age have nonetheless fled overseas to keep away from the draft amid stories of corruption within the military recruitment system, permitting some males to bribe their method out of military service.
