In the Czech Republic, men from Ukraine of military age have begun to be denied temporary protection. They could not confirm the fulfillment of their military duties.
This is what the Czech media Novinky writes about.
In the first week after the new rules came into effect, dozens of Ukrainian men did not receive temporary protection status. The Ministry of Internal Affairs explained that they know what a record confirming the fulfillment of military duty looks like. There are currently over 360 000 Ukrainians in the country, of which over 130 000 are men. Recently, the majority of those arriving have been men of draft age.
On August 5, the Czech Interior Ministry announced that it would no longer grant temporary protection to newly arrived men of military age from Ukraine unless they confirm their military service. The changes are part of a new decision of the Council of the European Union, published in the Official Journal of the EU on August 4.
What is the EU Temporary Protection Program?
The EU Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) is a special mechanism that allows people fleeing en masse from war or other major crises to quickly obtain the right to live legally in European Union countries without a lengthy asylum procedure.
It was first activated for Ukrainians in March 2022, after Russiaʼs full-scale invasion. This directive has existed since 2001 (it was launched after the conflicts in the then Yugoslavia), but has never been applied.
Temporary protection gives the right to reside legally in an EU country, access to the labor market, medical and social support, access to education for children, the ability to rent housing and use other public services.
As of March 2026, 4.33 million Ukrainians had temporary protection status in the EU. The largest number of them was in Germany (1.27 million), Poland (961 405) and the Czech Republic (379 820).
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