Poroshenko calls on Germany not to pay money to Ukrainian men who left Ukraine
He suggests transferring these funds to the Armed Forces instead
Ukraine's fifth president, Petro Poroshenko, has called on Germany to stop funding Ukrainian men of military age who are in the country and instead transfer the money to the Ukrainian army.
"Those who have the opportunity to return should return," he said in an interview with DW on Wednesday, 8 May, during the congress of the German conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party in Berlin, answering the question of whether Germany should help Ukrainian men return home.
At the same time, he expressed doubt that any actions by Ukraine or Germany could influence the position of Ukrainian men who refuse to return home.
"But I strongly recommend that Germany, in relation to these people – the men who are here and who refuse to return to Ukraine – please stop funding this and immediately start providing this money to the Armed Forces of Ukraine," Poroshenko called.
At the same time, the former president of Ukraine stressed the need to provide Kyiv with German long-range TAURUS missiles.
"After all, we need this money not only for air defence – it is impossible to win a war with air defence alone – but also for TAURUS, which are a very powerful argument for Russia to stop attacking our critical energy infrastructure, because it will definitely receive fire in return," he explained.
According to Poroshenko, it is difficult for Ukrainians to explain why the United States supplies ATACMS missiles to Ukraine, the United Kingdom supplies Storm Shadow missiles, France supplies Scalp missiles, and Germany, which Poroshenko said is "a close partner of Ukraine and a leader of the EU," does not supply TAURUS missiles.
After Kyiv's decision to suspend consular services for men who are eligible for mobilisation, Germany and other EU countries began discussing how to facilitate the return of Ukrainian men.
On 7 May, CDU member of parliament Roderich Kiesewetter called for support for Ukraine's efforts.
"Germany should support Ukraine in making fair offers to men who are fit for military service and in encouraging them to return voluntarily. In turn, Germany could, for example, suspend the payment of financial assistance to this group of citizens and help identify them and deliver messages to them," the politician suggested.
According to German media reports, the heads of the state ministries of interior, with the participation of the federal interior ministry, will begin consultations on the status of men from Ukraine without a valid passport in Germany. The ministers are expected to make a decision in mid-June at the next conference of the Länder Ministers of the Interior.
Background. On 23 April, the government in Kyiv ordered that Ukrainian men of mobilisation age be issued a Ukrainian passport or a foreign passport only on the territory of Ukraine. On the same day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided to temporarily suspend services at Ukrainian diplomatic missions for men who are subject to the mobilisation law.
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