BRUSSELS, August 20. /TASS/. All refugees arriving in the European Union from Ukraine, both men and women, must prove that they are not evading military service in order to receive temporary protection status, European Commission Spokesman Markus Lammert said at a briefing in Brussels.
"As a matter of fact, the Council decision extending the Temporary Protection Directive came into force earlier this month, in August 2026. This means that the practical assessment of individual cases is for the competent national member states. It is for the national member state authorities to apply the new rules and to do the actual checks which the rules provide for," he said.
"The Council decision does not differentiate between men and women in the application. This is about military service or former military service, so there is no distinction between men and women [provided they are subject to military service]," Lammert added.
Earlier reports said that migration authorities in several EU countries had required certain categories of Ukrainian women, including qualified medical professionals subject to military service under Ukrainian law, to confirm that they were not evading participation in combat operations against Russia.
Turning-point decision
On August 5, the EU Council published a decision extending temporary protection for Ukrainian refugees until March 2028. The decision also introduced a change to the temporary protection regime for the first time: all new arrivals from Ukraine must provide legal proof that they are not evading conscription. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas previously said that the amendment had been adopted at Kiev's request.
The measure was initially expected to apply only to men of conscription age. However, in recent weeks, reports have emerged that migration authorities in several EU countries are also requiring women to confirm they have fulfilled their military obligations if there are grounds to believe that they may be liable for military service under Ukrainian law.
The temporary protection system allows refugees from Ukraine to live, work and study legally in Europe, while also accessing medical care and social support, based solely on Ukrainian documents. The extent of this support is determined by the governments of the EU countries that grant the status. A refugee from Ukraine who is not granted temporary protection automatically becomes an undocumented migrant within the EU, the report said.
The measure is not retroactive and applies only to new arrivals. Those who received temporary protection earlier should not, in theory, lose their status regardless of whether they evaded military service.
A total of 4.41 million Ukrainians currently benefit from temporary protection in the EU.