German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (CDU) proposed transferring registration data on Ukrainian men of conscription age residing in Germany to the Ukrainian authorities. He announced this in the "Ronzheimer." podcast in early September 2026. The article is based on a report by Frankfurter Rundschau dated September 9, 2026.
What exactly did the minister propose?
According to Wadephul, the German side already has information on who lives in the country, who receives social benefits, who is registered with authorities, and what their residence status is. In his view, this data could be shared with Kyiv so that Ukrainian authorities could directly contact these men regarding potential mobilization.
At the same time, the minister emphasized: the return to Ukraine must take place "without coercion". He explicitly distanced himself from the idea of forcibly deporting military conscripts.
How many men are we talking about?
According to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), as of May 30, 2026, approximately 355,745 men aged 18 to 63 who arrived due to the war in Ukraine were in Germany. A year earlier, there were approximately 297,660.
The increase is partly attributed to Ukraine's partial easing of the travel ban for men aged 18–22 at the end of August 2025.
- Wadephul supported a stance aligned with CDU chairman Markus Söder's calls for the return of men of conscription age.
- In the EU, men of conscription age no longer automatically qualify for temporary protection upon new entry as of July 2026; for others, the status has been extended until March 2028.
- Men already residing in the EU are not affected by this change.
Context and Reaction
Debates in Germany are taking place against the backdrop of staffing pressures in Ukraine and changes to temporary protection rules in the EU. Wadephul did not detail a legally secure mechanism for data transfer.
Separately, the minister stated that Germany, as one of the largest donors, expects greater participation of the German defense industry in Ukrainian procurement — a topic he has already discussed with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.
This text was prepared based on German media sources (Frankfurter Rundschau, September 9, 2026; AFP, dpa, RND also mentioned). It is an independent Ukrainian summary, not a literal translation.