European Commission proposes extending temporary protection for Ukrainians for another year, except for newly arrived men liable for military service not permitted to leave Ukraine

The European Commission has proposed extending temporary protection for Ukrainians until March 4, 2028, but not extending it to newly arrived citizens who are prohibited from leaving Ukraine due to military obligations.

Ukrainian Pravda has reported this, citing a statement by Magnus Brunner, the European Commissioner for Migration.

“Today we are presenting a proposal to extend temporary protection for another year…—until March 4, 2028,” Brunner said.

At the same time, he noted that the European Commission’s proposal “takes into account Ukraine’s evolving defense needs and its recovery needs.”

“Our proposal stipulates that temporary protection should not be granted to new arrivals who are not permitted to leave Ukraine due to their military obligations under Ukrainian law. This is what Ukraine asked us for, and this is what we are doing,” the European Commissioner emphasized.

Magnus Brunner added that this issue “has been extensively discussed with our Ukrainian partners, our Ukrainian friends, and, of course, with our member states.”

He stressed that this “will protect families who have built lives in Europe and integrated into their host societies—for example, by finding jobs, contributing to the EU economy, learning the language, attending school, and starting businesses.”

The next step will be for the European Council to discuss and approve the European Commission’s proposal.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, according to official data, as of March 2026, 4.33 million Ukrainians had temporary protection status in the EU. Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic accepted the largest number of refugees. In the overall breakdown of people with this status, women account for 43.3%, children for 30.1%, and adult men for 26.6%.