EU to Require Mobilization Exemption Documents for New Ukrainian Protection Seekers

The European Commission plans to update its temporary protection directive in July, requiring Ukrainians to present a specific document proving they are exempt from mobilization in Ukraine to receive protection in the European Union.

This policy will apply to both men and women who apply for the status for the first time, though it will not impact the roughly 4.3 million Ukrainian citizens who currently hold temporary protection across the EU, as reported by Rzeczpospolita on July 13.

This total includes over 1.2 million people in Germany and nearly 960,000 in Poland. According to Poland’s PESEL registry, more than 218,000 Ukrainian men aged 18 to 65 lived in the country as of June 15, while approximately 1.15 million Ukrainian men hold temporary protection throughout the entire EU.

During the first five months of 2026, Ukrainians submitted 992 temporary protection applications in Poland, with 550 coming from military-aged men. Warsaw ultimately granted protection to 78 Ukrainians, eight of whom were men. While the European Union plans to approve the new directive this July, the changes are scheduled to take effect in March 2027.

Polish Deputy Minister of Interior and Administration Maciej Duszczyk stated that the new rules will target new applicants without affecting those who have already secured their status. This follows ongoing discussions within the EU regarding potential limitations on extending protection for military-aged Ukrainian men.

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Other countries have already begun introducing separate measures. At the end of June, the Danish government presented a bill to stop granting refugee status to Ukrainian men aged 23 to 60.

Meanwhile, Hungary has voiced opposition to these broader EU limitations. Hungarian leader Peter Magyar stated that even if the European Union approves the measure, it will not prevent Hungary from granting refugee status to ethnic Hungarians arriving from Ukraine.

Earlier, Polish President Karol Nawrocki signed a new law that changed how the country provided aid to people fleeing Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 

This legislation moved existing support tools into the general Law on the Protection of Foreigners, effectively ending the separate legal framework that had been in place since 2022. 

While the law extended the legal right for Ukrainian citizens to remain in Poland until March 4, 2027. The move followed the President’s earlier indications that special assistance would be phased out, treating Ukrainians the same as other national minorities under standard regulations.

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