Merz tells Zelensky fewer young Ukrainian men should come to Germany

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the young men should serve in their own country where they are needed. (EPA Images pic)

BERLIN: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday that fewer young Ukrainian men should come as refugees to Germany.

Merz said after a phone call with Zelensky: “I asked the Ukrainian president to ensure that young men from Ukraine in particular do not come to Germany in ever-increasing numbers, but rather serve in their own country.

“They are needed there.”

Europe’s top economy has taken in around a million Ukrainian refugees since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

More recently, Germany has seen an influx of young Ukrainian men following Kyiv’s decision to let those aged 18 to 22 leave Ukraine, the interior ministry told AFP last month.

The number of men in that age bracket seeking refuge in Germany had surged from just over 100 per week to as high as 1,796 in the week starting Oct 6, ministry data showed.

Merz also said German social welfare rules would soon be changed in a way that would lower payments for Ukrainian refugees and “thus offer greater incentives to find employment”.

“The benefits for these refugees will be structured in such a way that the incentives to work outweigh the incentive to remain in the welfare system,” Merz said at a Berlin business congress.

Ukraine had prohibited any man aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion, with only limited exceptions.

But Kyiv loosened those rules in August.