The EU plans to limit temporary protection for Ukrainians who are subject to mobilization

The European Commission plans to announce in July changes to the rules for granting temporary protection to Ukrainian citizens. Newly arrived Ukrainians will be able to obtain the relevant status only if they have confirmation that they are not subject to mobilization or have lawful grounds to leave the country.

On 13 July 2026 the Polish publication Rzeczpospolita reported this. According to the publication, the changes will concern both men and women who are subject to military obligations.

In early June Ukraine allegedly appealed to the European Union with a proposal to limit access of certain citizens to the special temporary protection regime. The relevant decision is expected to be adopted in July; however, the new rules may begin to be applied from March 2027.

At the same time, the European Commission proposed to extend temporary protection for people who left Ukraine because of the war until 4 March 2028. The final decision must be taken by the EU Council.

According to the latest Eurostat data, as of 31 May 2026 temporary protection in EU countries was used by 4.38 million people who left Ukraine because of the Russian invasion. The largest numbers of such citizens are in Germany and Poland.

According to the Polish Ministry of Digitalisation, in June 2026 more than 218,000 Ukrainian men aged 18 to 65 with temporary protection status resided in Poland. Overall in the EU, approximately 1.15 million men of this age category reportedly hold such status.

At the same time, the number of applications by Ukrainians for international protection in Poland is increasing. In 2024, 7,008 Ukrainian citizens filed such applications, among them 4,100 adult men. In 2025, 1,518 Ukrainians received international protection, including 830 men. By 31 May 2026 another 992 applications had been filed, 550 of which belonged to men of mobilization age.

In addition, the Polish Ministry of Interior and Administration is preparing amendments to the citizenship law. They may provide for an increase in the minimum period of residence in Poland required to acquire citizenship to eight years.

Applicants may also be required to know Polish at the B2 level, pass an exam in history and the basics of the constitutional system, and sign a document about “confirmation of loyalty” to Poland.

It is still unknown whether the period of stay of Ukrainians under temporary protection will be counted toward the required eight-year residence period. According to the publication, more than 40,000 Ukrainians have already received Polish citizenship.

Earlier we wrote:

• The EU may limit temporary protection for Ukrainian men of conscription age
• Nearly one million Ukrainian men of conscription age are in the EU
• Men are leaving for Europe en masse: in September the number of Ukrainians in the EU increased by 50%
• Almost 5 million Ukrainians fled the war to the EU — there they plan to roll back refugee protection
• The EU extended protection for Ukrainians until 2027: what will happen after this term