Germany wants to shut asylum door on Ukrainian men of fighting age

Germany supports a proposed change to EU legislation that would exclude Ukrainian men of fighting age from a temporary asylum programme, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said on Thursday ahead of a meeting of EU interior ministers in Luxembourg.

Germany wanted to extend the temporary protection directive but had doubts about whether Ukrainians of conscription age should be covered by it, Dobrindt said.

Member states had contributed differing views on the issue. "I am, however, very confident that we can reach a solution that also moves in this direction, even if the details have not yet been fully discussed," the conservative politician said.

Ukrainian refugees do not need to apply for asylum in EU

War refugees from Ukraine are admitted to the European Union under what is known as the temporary protection directive, meaning their protection requests are not examined individually.

According to dpa, two proposals are on the table at the EU interior ministers' meeting: an extension of the current protection arrangement, which runs until March 4, 2027, for all Ukrainian refugees in its current form for a further year, or an extension that would exclude Ukrainian men aged between 23 and 60 from temporary protection.

"We have noted that in recent months the influx of people of conscription age has also increased. That has to be addressed," Dobrindt said. That did not of course rule out the normal asylum procedure applying to such cases, he added.