Austria refuses to extradite men of military age who fled mobilization to Ukrainian authorities

Austria will not extradite Ukrainians of military age at the request of Kyiv. A spokesman for the country's Interior Ministry said that this step would be "an encroachment on our national sovereignty."

Source. This was reported by moscowtimes.eu with reference to the Exxpress newspaper.

Ukraine expects all Western European countries that have accepted Ukrainian refugees to send men of military age back home so that they can be drafted into the army and sent to the front. This was stated earlier by the head of the Servant of the People parliamentary faction, David Arakhamia.

"In fact, in any country in the world, except Russia, our law enforcement agencies can come and request the extradition of such people and bring them to Ukraine to be held accountable," Arakhamia said.

The Austrian Ministry of the Interior emphasizes that the possibility of expelling Ukrainians back to Ukraine with the prospect of being sent to the front is "not considered at all." Even if Vienna receives a written request from the Ukrainian government, it will be ignored.

"Austria will not allow anyone to dictate terms to it," says a representative of the country's Interior Ministry.

According to an Exxpress study, there are currently 14,000 men aged 18 to 54 in Austria who fled Ukraine because of the war. In total, the country provides assistance to 101,629 refugees – men, women, children and the elderly.

By June 2023, 5.6-6.7 million people had fled the war in Ukraine. Of those, 63% plan to return home, according to the Ukrainian Center for Economic Strategy.

Background. As a reminder, the Austrian insurance company Uniqa will sell its Russian subsidiary Raiffeisen Life and will withdraw from Russia.