German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul suggested that German authorities could help Ukraine identify Ukrainian men of draft age residing in Germany by using data on registration, residence permits, and social benefit receipts.
Wadeful made this statement in an interview with Bild deputy editor-in-chief Paul Ronzheimer, published on the evening of September 8.
Wadeful supported the position of Christian Social Union leader Markus Söder that Ukrainian men of draft age in Germany should return to Ukraine.
“We know who lives here, who, for example, receives social benefits, who is registered here, and who has residency status,” said the German foreign minister.
According to Wadepul, based on this information, the Ukrainian authorities could directly contact the men in Germany and inform them of the need to report for military service.
At the same time, the minister specifically emphasized that the return of Ukrainians to their country must take place “without coercion”.
At this time, there have been no reports regarding the adoption by the German federal government of a corresponding mechanism, a list of the data to be transferred, or the legal procedure for transferring it to Ukraine.
The issue affects a significant number of people. According to the German government’s official response to a parliamentary inquiry, as of the end of October 2025, there were 328,363 male Ukrainian citizens in the country between the ages of 18 and 60. At the same time, the government specifically emphasized that these statistics include Ukrainians who were living in Germany even before the start of the full-scale war, and that the German authorities do not have information on how many of these men are actually subject to Ukrainian military service.
Germany remains the EU country with the largest number of Ukrainians under temporary protection. According to Eurostat, as of June 30, 2026, 1.286 million people in Germany had this status, or 29.2% of all recipients of temporary protection from Ukraine in the European Union.
The debate over men of draft age in Germany has intensified in recent months. Representatives of part of the ruling coalition advocate creating economic and administrative incentives for their return to Ukraine. However, Wadeful’s statement is one of the most concrete proposals from a high-ranking German official regarding the use of registration data already available to the state.
Original source: Johann Wadeful’s interview with Bild on September 8, 2026. Bild – Johann Wadeful’s interview
