Hessian Interior Minister Roman Poseck (CDU) is clear.
“We must help Ukraine bring back its prisoners! This may include helping to ensure that Ukraine can call up men who have fled abroad but may be deployed in the war,” Poseck said on Sunday evening on ARD television.
“It is important to support Ukraine’s defense readiness, which also defends our values. In the end, they also protect us,” he reminded.
According to him, it is necessary to adopt a unified position at the federal and state level. “And I am convinced that it will happen very soon. The need is urgent. The results will come in a few days and weeks,” said the minister.
Two stabbed Ukrainians died in Germany. The suspect is Russian
Europe
As reported by ARD, the federal states and the Federal Ministry of the Interior want to discuss how to solve this. Several Länder have confirmed that there should be a “nationwide solution”.
Kuleba said about his men
Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba has therefore already explicitly asked Germany for help. The country should not issue replacement documents to Ukrainians living in Germany who need a new passport. This would mean that they would have to return to Ukraine and could be called up for military service.
Anton Hofreiter (Greens), chairman of the Bundestag’s committee for European Union affairs, categorically rejects such a position. According to him, the Federal Republic should provide Ukrainians with replacement personal documents. “In our basic law (the German term for the constitution – editor’s note) we have the right to conscientious objection. And I believe that forcing people who do not want to fight under any circumstances to do so will not ultimately strengthen the Ukrainian army,” he says.
The opposite pole is represented by Roderich Kiesewetter, the defense expert of the opposition Christian Democracy (CDU). “I have no sympathy for Ukrainian men in Germany who are eligible for military service and avoid defending their country. Not everyone has to go to the front, they can also take part in caring for the wounded, disaster relief or elsewhere,” he says. “When you take into account their numbers, the Ukrainian army lacks eight to ten divisions just because of the citizens who live in Germany,” he confided to the Bild newspaper.
According to Kiesewetter, the best, well-trained and experienced soldiers have either been killed, wounded or are deployed almost continuously for over two years. “Many Ukrainian soldiers are completely exhausted, as rest and recovery phases are not possible due to lack of personnel. This reduces their combat effectiveness and morale,” he noted.
200,000 Ukrainians officially live in Germany
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rusten Umerov said in late December that he wanted to send thousands and thousands of male refugees to the front. He told the Bild newspaper at the time that all Ukrainian men between the ages of 25 and 60 who are eligible for military service should receive an invitation to appear at the recruitment centers of the Ukrainian armed forces. If they did not accept the invitation, they would have to reckon with the consequences.
From February 24, 2022, when the Russian offensive began, to the beginning of this year, 221,571 Ukrainian men between the ages of 18 and 60, i.e. of military age, came to Germany. Of these, according to official statistics, 189,484 men currently remain in the country, the Federal Ministry of the Interior said.
The Russians now have the initiative on the battlefield, Ukraine needs our help as well as its own mobilization
A useless war
