The EU has proposed extending protection for Ukrainians for a year, but excluding those liable for military service
Magnus Brunner, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration, announced this at a briefing in Brussels.
“Today we are presenting a proposal to extend protection for a further year. [...] The proposal stipulates that temporary protection will not be granted to new arrivals who are not permitted to leave Ukraine due to military obligations,” said Brunner.
He added that it is proposed to extend the Directive’s validity until 4 March 2028.
“This is what Ukraine asked us to do, and we are doing it. It also reflects discussions with Member States, particularly those that have taken in the largest number of Ukrainian refugees,” emphasised Brunner.
At the same time, Brunner announced the launch of a pilot project designed to facilitate the return of Ukrainians to their homeland. According to him, this applies both to those planning to return now and to those who may do so once the necessary conditions are in place.
A proposal to extend protection – though not for those liable for military service – has been submitted to the Council of the EU for consideration. The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’Flaherty, called on European countries not to rush into prematurely winding down temporary protection and support programmes for Ukrainians.
O’Flaherty noted that restricting temporary protection for certain categories of refugees contravenes human rights principles. He emphasised that at present “no region of Ukraine can be considered safe” due to regular shelling, even of western cities, and that the number of civilian casualties over the past and current year has been the highest since the start of the full-scale invasion.
The EU’s Temporary Protection Programme: what we know
The EU Temporary Protection Programme (Temporary Protection Directive, TPD) is a special mechanism that allows people fleeing en masse from war or another major crisis to quickly obtain the right to live legally in EU countries, bypassing the lengthy asylum procedure.
For Ukrainians, it was first activated in March 2022 following Russia’s full-scale invasion. Prior to that, the directive had been in place since 2001 (it was launched following the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia), but had never been applied.
What does temporary protection offer:
- the right to reside legally in an EU country;
- access to the labour market;
- medical care;
- social support;
- access to education for children;
- the ability to rent accommodation and access other public services.
As of March 2026, 4.33 million Ukrainians had temporary protection status in the EU. The largest numbers were in Germany (1.27 million), Poland (961,405) and the Czech Republic (379,820).
Last year, the European Commission approved recommendations for the gradual phasing out of the temporary protection scheme for Ukrainians. These recommendations set out uniform conditions for all EU member states for the future, once the situation in Ukraine becomes safe for residence.
As previously reported, Denmark is preparing legislative changes that could strip some Ukrainian men of conscription age of their right to temporary protection. The draft bill sets out new rules for obtaining and retaining a residence permit.
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