Ukrainian draft dodgers should not get social benefits in EU counties, says Polish foreign minister

Poland’s foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, has called for European countries to end social benefits for military-age Ukrainian men, saying they should not be rewarded for avoiding the draft.

“Stop paying those social security payments for people who are eligible for the Ukrainian draft,” said Sikorski during a visit to 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,” he added in remarks carried by Reuters. “We in Poland don’t do it.”

Sikorski’s remarks were welcomed by his Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii Sybiha, who said that he “supports the idea” and that “it’s time really to raise the question of the European Union developing programmes to return Ukrainians home”.

Europejskie rządy powinny wstrzymać świadczenia socjalne dla mężczyzn z Ukrainy w wieku poborowym przebywających w ich krajach. pic.twitter.com/XzRXWHHqES

— Radosław Sikorski 🇵🇱🇪🇺 (@sikorskiradek) September 15, 2024

In April this year, Poland’s defence minister said that his country was ready to help Ukraine bring back men who are subject to compulsory military service but are living in Poland.

Subsequently, the two countries agreed on plans for Poland to establish and train a “Ukrainian legion” comprised of Ukrainians living in Poland. However, despite Sikorski claiming in July that “several thousand” potential recruits had expressed interest, recruitment for the unit has still not begun.

According to Eurostat, Poland currently hosts around 975,000 Ukrainian refugees, second in the EU only to Germany. Poland also has a large population of Ukrainian economic migrants, many of whom arrived before Russia’s full scale invasion in 2022.

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Last week, infamous Russian pranksters Vovan and Lexus published a recording they had made of Sikorski after tricking him into believing he was speaking with former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko.

In his remarks, Sikorski said that he supports the idea that “those who avoid the draft should not get social security payments” if they live in the EU. “People should not be paid for being draft dodgers.”

During his recent three-day visit to Kyiv, Sikorski also repeated his call for Western countries to lift restrictions on the use of long-range weapons they have donated to Ukraine.

“Several thousand” Ukrainians in Poland have registered to join a Ukrainian Legion that will serve in the defence of Ukraine, says @sikorskiradek.

The volunteers will be trained and equipped by Poland, with Sikorski urging other countries to do the same https://t.co/ydeUuQZN0p

— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) July 11, 2024

Main image credit: Leonhard Lenz/Wikimedia Commons (under public domain)

Agata Pyka is an assistant editor at Notes from Poland. She is a journalist and a political communication student at the University of Amsterdam. She specialises in Polish and European politics as well as investigative journalism and has previously written for Euractiv and The European Correspondent.