Ukrainian men abroad will file lawsuits due to restrictions on consular services

Ukrainian men abroad will file lawsuits due to restrictions on consular services

This is predicted by Kyiv lawyer Hanna Ishchenko.

In a comment to DW, she called the penalties disproportionately harsh.

“The courts in such cases must establish whether the relevant decisions of the authorities were made sensibly, in good faith and in compliance with the principle of equality of citizens before the law. In addition, the actions of the authorities must be proportionate - there must be a relationship between the consequences for citizens and the goals to which this is aimed. decision," Ishchenko said.

The executive director of the Ukrainian Helsinki Union for Human Rights,  Oleksandr Pavlichenko, agrees with her. He fears that consulates will not help Ukrainian citizens even in emergency situations.

As a result of these restrictions, Ukrainians will seek opportunities to obtain foreign citizenship and litigate the new rules, appealing in particular to the European Convention on Human Rights.

Lawyers interviewed by DW doubt that the new norms will force Ukrainians who do not want to fight to return to their homeland.

“It’s good that last year I got a passport in Cologne and I no longer need to go to the consulate. I can’t leave my wife and three children alone and go to fight,” says Oleh, who legally left Kyiv with his family for Germany.

“On the contrary, this further demonstrates that there is no need to return. Because the country’s authorities are doing a lot to make you feel uncomfortable, uncomfortable, bad, and so that you, in fact, do not return there,” said Bohdan, who left Ukraine illegally .

Bogdan’s passport is valid until 2032, by which time he hopes to obtain another citizenship.

“I am almost 90% sure that Germany will create a system in which we will be able to receive all the necessary documents here, without taking into account Ukrainian ones. That is, we will not need to contact Ukraine. And in this way all these issues will be resolved,” says man.