Poland rules out forced return of draft-age Ukrainians

Poland will not forcibly return Ukrainian citizens of military age to Ukraine, Poland's minister-coordinator of special services Tomasz Siemoniak has said in an interview with Radio Zet.

He noted that the issue was discussed some time ago, and no coercive measures of this kind are envisaged.

“There are specific rules there concerning age, family size, number of children and so on. Therefore, we decided at that time that we would not do this. In other words, our police would not detain such people and deliver them to Ukraine," Siemoniak added.

Several Polish politicians, including Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, have previously said that young Ukrainians living in Poland could return to their homeland and join the Ukrainian armed forces.

However, the Polish government has not proposed forcibly deporting draft-age Ukrainian refugees.

In July, the European Union stopped granting temporary protection to Ukrainian citizens of military age.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov