Stop benefits for Ukrainian refugees so they go home and fight, Poland tells EU

Millions of Ukrainians have protection status within bloc, but foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski says men have duty to defend their country

European governments should stop paying benefits to male Ukrainian refugees of fighting age to convince them to return home and enlist in the army, Poland’s foreign minister has said.
Radoslaw Sikorski said the move would help finances in host countries as well as aid Kyiv’s recruitment efforts.
Ukraine’s forces currently need more soldiers to make up for losses and maintain defences as the Russian army steadily advances in the east of the country.
“Stop paying those social security payments for people who are eligible for the Ukrainian draft,” Mr Sikorski said at a conference of international leaders in Kyiv.
“There should be no financial incentives for avoiding the draft in Ukraine. It’s not a human right to be paid to avoid the draft, to defend your country. We in Poland don’t do it.”
Ukraine banned men aged 18 to 60 from travelling abroad without special permission and launched a rolling mobilisation in the aftermath of Russia’s illegal invasion on Feb 22 2022.
But many men of military age fled abroad to avoid the draft amid reports of corruption in the army recruitment system, allowing some men to bribe their way out of serving.
More than 4.1 million Ukrainians had temporary protection status in European Union countries as of July this year, according to data from the EU statistics office, Eurostat. Around 22 per cent of them were adult men.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said: “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.”
Ukraine lowered the call-up age for combat duty from 27 to 25 in a bid to increase mobilisation earlier this year.
It also ordered men of military age living abroad to renew their military draft information online and encouraged them to return to Ukraine and join the fight.
Poland hosts almost 1 million Ukrainian refugees, second only to Germany in the EU.
In April, Poland’s defence minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak said Warsaw was ready to help Ukraine bring back men subject to compulsory military service who were living in Poland.
The two countries have agreed plans to train a “Ukrainian legion” of expats living in Poland but recruitment for the unit has still not begun.