Estonia does not plan to repatriate Ukrainian citizens in the potential mobilization target group

The Estonian Ministry of the Interior does not plan to repatriate to Ukraine Ukrainian citizens of conscription age who arrived in Estonia legally, announced Anneli Viksa, advisor of the ministry’s citizenship and migration policy department.

“Mobilization is a matter of the state and its citizens. The Ministry of the Interior has no plans for the forced repatriation of Ukrainian citizens living legally in Estonia who fled because of the war, this also applies to Ukrainian citizens who belong to the possible target group of Ukraine’s mobilization,” Viksa said.

Data collected on April 26 show that 6,500 Ukrainian men aged between 18 and 60 had residence permits in Estonia based on temporary protection.

According to information provided by the Ukrainian media, consular offices of Ukraine have stopped issuing passports to men aged 18-60 who are citizens of Ukraine and permanently live abroad.

As Viksa said, if Ukrainian citizens of mobilization age will no longer be able to exchange their expired passports at the Ukrainian embassy, ​​they will lose the opportunity to travel, but will still be able to stay in Estonia.

“However, the absence of a valid travel document does not limit the possibility of applying for a residence permit or extension (also on the basis of temporary protection). The current procedure also allows for identification or proof of identity based on other evidence. However, a foreigner cannot apply for a visa if there is no valid travel document,” the official said.

At the end of April, approximately 31,000 war refugees had valid residence permits in Estonia based on temporary protection.

It has already been reported that on April 16, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed the controversial mobilization law, which aims to increase the number of soldiers.

Since Russia’s repeated invasion of Ukraine at the beginning of 2022, the soldiers on the front lines have not had the opportunity to go on vacation on a rotational basis, meanwhile, many thousands of Ukrainians continue to avoid conscription. The law introduces a number of changes to the current system, expanding the powers of the Ukrainian authorities to issue summonses through an electronic system.

The new law also introduces tougher penalties for avoiding conscription and requires men to update their military registration information with authorities.

It is planned that men of mobilization age living abroad will not be issued new passports, nor will consular services be provided to men aged 18-60.

However, the law does not provide for the demobilization of soldiers who have served at the front for a long time, which the lawmakers refused to do under pressure from the Ukrainian army. The MPs announced that the issue of demobilization will be addressed in a separate bill, but did not provide further details.

Zelensky this month signed a separate law that lowered the age of mobilization from 27 to 25.