The Ukrainian parliament recently revised its mobilization law, reducing the conscription age to 25 and increasing penalties for evading military service.
Additionally, Ukraine has ceased issuing new passports to men of conscription age residing abroad and suspended consular services for men aged 18–60.
“Ukraine needs to have its mobilization plans,” stated Nausėda during a debate on LRT RADIO (Lithuanian National Radio). “Ukraine must have the means and instruments
to invite its young men to serve their homeland. We must cooperate with Ukraine in every sense.”
Šimonytė suggested that
Lithuania could take actions to assist Ukraine, albeit acknowledging that some measures require EU-level deliberation.
“We could probably look for some ways to make sure that a person has performed their mobilization duty or is exempted from it when we consider whether to extend their temporary residence permit,” she said.
“But we need to work not only with the Ukrainian authorities but also more broadly because right now, the EU has the so-called temporary protection in place for Ukrainian people,” the PM added.
The Migration Department clarified that
Lithuania is not legally obligated to aid Ukraine in the mobilization process.
“This is a political issue. The fact that Ukraine or another country has declared mobilization has no influence on us, according to our legislation. Any reaction, if any, would be a political decision of Lithuania,” stated Evelina Gudzinskaitė, head of the Migration Department, to the Elta news agency.
She emphasized that implementing such decisions would require national legislative initiatives, raising questions about their compatibility with EU law.
Polish Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz recently announced Poland’s readiness to assist Kyiv in repatriating military-age men.
In response, Lithuanian Defence Minister Laurynas Kasčiūnas suggested Lithuania could emulate Poland’s approach.
However, Polish Foreign Minister
Radosław Sikorski later deemed Warsaw's assistance in repatriating military-age men to Ukraine ethically questionable, insisting that Kyiv should take the lead on this matter.
According to the Migration Department, just over 29,000 military-age Ukrainian men currently hold residence permits in Lithuania.
