Poland stands ready to aid Ukraine in repatriating conscripted men – minister Kosiniak-Kamysz

Poland's Defense Minister, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, stated that his country is prepared to aid Ukraine in repatriating conscription-age men.

Reuters reports this.

Poland has previously offered help to Ukraine to return men of conscription age to fulfill their civic duty, the minister said in an interview with the Polsat News channel.

"I believe a lot of Polish people get upset when they come across young Ukrainian men in hotels and cafes and hear about the amount of effort we have to put in to support Ukraine," he said.

At the same time, Kosiniak-Kamysz did not explain how Poland would solve this issue.

"Any support is possible," said the head of the Ministry of Defense, answering a question about how Poland would react if Kyiv asked for help in returning home men whose passports had expired.

According to Eurostat estimates, as of the beginning of 2024, 4.3 million Ukrainians lived in EU countries, of which about 860,000 were adult men.

Poland granted temporary protection to 950,000 Ukrainians, which is the second-highest figure after Germany.

For reference:

On April 11, the Ukrainian parliament passed the "Law on Amendments to Selected Legislative Acts of Ukraine Concerning Military Service, Mobilization, and Military Registration" in its second reading. It has already been signed by the President and published.

On April 23, Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, announced the suspension of consular services for Ukrainian men who are of conscription age and currently living abroad. He stated that being outside the country does not relieve citizens from their duties to their country, including updating their information with their local military authorities. As a result, he has instructed certain services to be withheld from these individuals.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs later indicated that after the mobilization law enters into force on May 18, 2024, "the process of accepting and considering applications for consular actions will continue taking into account the new requirements arising from the provisions of the law."

In turn, the European Union declared that they "took into account" the decision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine to suspend the provision of services to men of mobilization age in diplomatic institutions.

On April 24th, the Ukrainian government prohibited Ukrainian citizens and men of the conscription age from sending their passports abroad for travel purposes. This is stated in the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine [government – ed.] No. 443.

The resolution reads as follows, "Obtaining a passport of a citizen of Ukraine, a passport of a citizen of Ukraine for traveling abroad by a male citizen of Ukraine aged 18 to 60 years is carried out at a territorial body/territorial unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Such passports are not forwarded to a separate unit or foreign diplomatic institution of Ukraine for the organization of their issuance."