Hungary to keep granting asylum to Ukrainian military-age men, diverging from EU policy
Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced that Hungary will continue granting asylum to Ukrainian men of military age fleeing to Hungary, primarily ethnic Hungarians from Transcarpathia. The move sets Budapest apart from an EU decision that restricts temporary protection for such men who have problems with their military registration documents.
Key points
- Hungary's government decided to continue granting asylum to Ukrainian men of military age who flee to Hungary.
- Prime Minister Péter Magyar said the measure primarily concerns ethnic Hungarians from Transcarpathia (Zakarpattia).
- Hungary voted against an EU measure that denies temporary protection to newly arrived military-age Ukrainian men with problems in their military registration documents.
- The EU extended temporary protection for Ukrainians until 4 March 2028, but the new provision limits eligibility for newly arrived military-age men with military registration issues.
- Switzerland also extended its support measures for Ukrainian war refugees until 4 March 2028, with restrictions.
Why it matters
Hungary is publicly breaking with the EU's approach to temporary protection for Ukrainian men of military age, a politically sensitive issue that touches on Ukraine's wartime mobilization and on the status of ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine's Transcarpathia region. The disagreement highlights a fault line within the EU over how to balance refugee protection with Kyiv's need to keep its citizens available for military service.
What happened
Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced that his government will continue to grant asylum to Ukrainian men of military age who flee to Hungary, saying the measure primarily concerns ethnic Hungarians from Transcarpathia. The decision comes after the EU extended temporary protection for Ukrainians until 4 March 2028, but introduced a new provision under which newly arrived military-age Ukrainian men can qualify only if they have no problems with their military registration documents. Hungary voted against that EU restriction. Magyar said he had raised his objections with the President of the European Council and several EU leaders the day before his announcement, and described the EU's approach of keeping "fathers and grandfathers" in a country at war without assistance as undignified and incomprehensible. He also noted that the number of refugees arriving from Transcarpathia is growing. Separately, Switzerland extended its own support measures for Ukrainian war refugees until 4 March 2028 with restrictions, and the Czech Republic last year granted temporary protection to more Ukrainian men than women for the first time.