On 4 June 2026, the Czech Minister of the Interior attended the meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council in Luxembourg. The main topics of discussion were the current security situation in the European Union, the future of European migration policy, and the future of temporary protection for people fleeing Russian aggression against Ukraine.
In his intervention, the Czech Minister stressed that temporary protection fulfilled its original purpose after the start of the Russian invasion. Temporary protection was an essential tool in the early years of the war, but EU countries must respond to the changing situation and the changing profile of the new arrivals. While in the early years of the war it was mainly women with children, currently more than half of the new arrivals are men of working age.
According to the Minister’s statements, "at today's meeting of the Ministers of the Interior and the European Commission, we agreed that temporary protection will not apply to men subject to military service. This position also respects Ukrainian legislation. In recent months, we have been intensively negotiating with other states in this regard. I appreciate that the majority of member states have supported our position. Based on the conclusions of today's discussion, the European Commission will submit a specific legislative proposal."
The Ministers participating in the meeting addressed migration issues and the implementation of the European Pact on Migration and Asylum. Czechia has long advocated strengthening the protection of the European Union's external borders, a more effective return policy, the fight against smuggling networks, and measures against irregular migration.
Czechia repeatedly draws attention to what it considers as problematic aspects of mandatory solidarity, which it has rejected, and supports European solutions that respect the responsibility of member states for their own migration policies. As part of the implementation of European legislation, the Czech Republic uses available tools to tighten national rules on asylum and residence of foreigners.
More information is available here.
- Ministry of the Interior | Ministerstvo Vnitra (4 June, 2026), Ministr vnitra Lubomír Metnar jednal v Lucemburku o bezpečnosti, migraci a budoucnosti dočasné ochrany [Minister of the Interior Lubomír Metnar discussed security, migration and the future of temporary protection in Luxembourg],