Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba confirmed the message on the suspension of consular services for Ukrainian men of mobilization age abroad. He published the comment on his Twitter (X).
Kuleba noted that the protection of the rights and interests of Ukrainian citizens abroad was and remains a priority of the Foreign Ministry, but in the current circumstances the main priority is the fight for Ukraine’s survival.
“How it looks now: a military-aged man went abroad, showed his state that the question of its survival does not bother him, and then comes and wants to receive favors from the state. It does not work that way. We have a war in our country,” the Foreign Minister emphasized.
He recalled that the obligation to update their data in territorial manning centers existed before the adoption of the new law on mobilization.
“If these people think that someone out there, far away at the front, is fighting and giving their lives for this state, and someone will sit abroad but still receive services from the state – that’s not how it works. Staying abroad does not relieve a citizen of his duties to the Motherland. That is why yesterday I instructed to take measures to restore fair treatment of men of mobilization age in Ukraine and abroad. This will be fair,” Dmytro Kuleba stressed.
He added that the Foreign Office would soon provide clarified explanations on further consular services for men of mobilization age in overseas diplomatic establishments.
On 11 April, the Ukrainian Parliament adopted in the second reading the law “On Amending Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding Certain Issues of Military Service, Mobilization and Military Registration”, which has already been signed by the President and published.
Earlier, the chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Rob Bauer, said that he believed that additional mobilization in Ukraine was necessary.