Germany’s foreign minister did not say that Ukrainian men liable for military service would be sent back to Ukraine to fight. He said the German government could help Kyiv bring home men currently in Germany — but that the process, in his words, must be entirely voluntary. On the basis of such data, the Ukrainian government could do no more than send men of conscription age letters informing them that they are liable to be called up. For context: no real or legal mechanism exists in Germany for deporting Ukrainians liable for military service.
Social media and Russian websites are widely circulating reports claiming that Ukrainians in Germany should prepare “to be sent home,” because they will be tracked down there, “all their data will be handed over and they may be sent to Ukraine to fight.” Germany’s Federal Foreign Office supposedly said as much. Users point to an interview given by German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul to Bild. “Germany’s foreign minister has proposed sending Ukrainians of conscription age who are in the country back to their homeland,” and “Ukrainians of conscription age in Germany must return home,” Russian media report.
This is a manipulation. Germany’s foreign minister did not say that Ukrainian men liable for military service would be sent back to Ukraine to fight. He said the German government could help Kyiv bring home men currently in Germany — but that the process, in his words, must be entirely voluntary. On the basis of such data, the Ukrainian government could do no more than send men of conscription age letters informing them that they are liable to be called up. For context: no real or legal mechanism exists in Germany for deporting Ukrainians liable for military service.
The German outlet Bild did publish an interview with Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul under the headline “Wadephul suddenly puts pressure on Zelensky.” In it, Wadephul noted that “Berlin could provide Kyiv with data on Ukrainian men.” But the subject is not the forced deportation of Ukrainian men from the country; it is, above all, oversight of those who entered the European Union illegally and are drawing unemployment benefits in Germany.
“The foreign minister, from the CDU (Christian Democratic Union), also backed the demand (…) that Ukrainian men of conscription age currently in Germany should return to Ukraine. The German government could help Kyiv bring these men back: ‘We do know who lives here. Who receives social benefits, for example, who is registered here, who holds a residence permit.’ On the basis of that data, the Ukrainian government could ‘send these men letters informing them that they are liable to be called up. I believe this question can be raised and that it must be raised.’ Any return to Ukraine, however, must take place ‘without coercion,'” Bild writes.
The text, then, contains no mention of Ukrainian men of conscription age being sent back to Ukraine to fight. What it describes is tighter oversight of data on Ukrainians liable for military service in Germany, and the possibility of establishing communication between the Ukrainian state and its citizens in the country. Wadephul stresses at the same time that the decision to return home must be voluntary. Every claim that Ukrainians in Germany “will be found, all their data handed over, and they may be sent to fight” is therefore false and torn from context.
Wadephul also stressed that calls by some German politicians, including from the AfD (Alternative for Germany), to change the country’s policy of support for Ukraine are unconstructive, because “the overwhelming majority of the German population supports our policy on Ukraine.” He added that he expects greater support from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on arms orders for German manufacturers.
“Germany’s foreign minister also criticized Ukrainian President Zelensky and called on Ukraine to pay more attention to German interests. (…) ‘At the moment we are not entirely satisfied with the volume of orders placed in Germany. We have therefore asked the Ukrainian government to review the situation and to ensure that it improves,'” Bild quotes Wadephul as saying.
Once again, Russian websites and social media pages are tearing the words of foreign politicians out of context in order to portray Ukrainian refugees in Europe as trapped and stripped of their rights. StopFake continues to debunk similar fakes in Fake: Belgium Has ‘Declared an Anti-Ukrainian Jihad’, Manipulation: Die Zeit Says Ukraine May Have Staged a False-Flag Operation at Leipzig Airport and Manipulation: Austrian Minister Claudia Bauer ‘Hit Back Hard’ at Zelensky Over His EU Membership Demand.
