Lowering mobilization age in Ukraine is not being considered now - Palisa
As of today, lowering the draft age in Ukraine is not being considered.
This was stated by Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Pavlo Palisa in an interview with Suspilne, according to Censor.NET.
He commented on the government's decision to grant the right to travel abroad to men aged 18 to 22.
According to him, this will allow in the long term "to keep those guys, aged 18 and older, for Ukraine."
"This will eliminate the need for parents to send their 16-year-old children abroad to study at vocational schools. Parents are concerned that "suddenly tomorrow the draft age will be lowered to 18 and my child will be taken into the army," says Palisa.
He stressed that the issue of reducing the mobilization age to 25 is not currently under discussion.
According to him, this will allow in the long term "to keep those guys, aged 18 and older, for Ukraine."
"This will eliminate the need for parents to send their 16-year-old children abroad to study at vocational schools. Parents are concerned that "suddenly tomorrow the draft age will be lowered to 18 and my child will be taken into the army," says Palisa.
He stressed that the issue of lowering the mobilization age to 25 is not currently under discussion.
"Given the gravity of the overall situation on the front line, this issue is not on the table at the moment – I mean lowering the mobilization age," said the deputy head of the Presidential Administration.
Responding to a question about the impact of this decision on the new program for voluntary enlistment of men aged 18-24 under contract, Palisa said that "freedom of choice is important."
"And in terms of attracting investment, we must create conditions that will ensure competitiveness and give this option an advantage over others," he added.
Earlier, the Cabinet of Ministers updated the procedure for crossing the state border. All men aged 18 to 22 will be able to cross the border without hindrance during martial law.
On August 27, the Cabinet of Ministers website published a resolution on the departure of men aged 18-22 abroad.
The State Border Service stated that men up to 22 years of age have already begun to be allowed to travel abroad.
