Ukraine is absolutely correct. The EU needs to get a grip of the Polish and Hungarian headbangers who are cuckoos in our nest. They make some good points about how allowing these cowboys to unilaterally undermine EU trade agreements can do terrible reputational damage to the EU.
I'd be with those boys. I was appalled that Zelenskiy forced all men of conscription age to fight. I have a son. Why should I be forced to fight when a fella with three kids wouldn't? I can tell you this now: I'd fight for NO country that forced me to fight for it.Story here about conscription avoidance in Ukraine....tbf, these lads must be looking at the fatality rate and thinking "eff that for a game of soldiers", so I wouldn't be too judgemental about them.
Ex-deacon accused of disguising men as missionaries to avoid conscription in Ukraine
Investigators say at least six individuals escaped to EU countries after deacon allegedly took bribeswww.theguardian.com
The deacon allegedly pocketed about $4,500 (£3,600) in bribes to certify that the departure of the men from the country was necessary for the diocese’s work in Europe. The SBU has seized the former deacon’s computers, mobile phones, sim cards and a sum of US dollars in cash. If convicted, he could face up to nine years in prison.
It is the latest in a series of corruption scandals over draft evasion in Ukraine. Last month, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, fired every regional recruitment head in the country, citing endemic corruption in the apparatus.
In a further development last week, the Prosecutor General’s Office in Odesa revealed that the leadership of a regional police force had been assisting dozens of men in evading conscription.
As a result, the head of the military medical commission and two secretaries are under investigation for allegedly falsifying dozens of medical certificates to demonstrate the individuals’ unfitness for military service. Each certificate reportedly cost between $7,000 and $10,000.
During the first months of the war, as hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians signed up for volunteer battalions and to help the army in other ways, there was no great need to enforce mobilisation rules. Eighteen months into the war, with tens of thousands of casualties and many troops at the front weary and in need of rotation, the army has increasingly turned to mobilisation, often handing out call-up papers on the street.
Male Ukrainian nationals of conscription age are allowed to cross the border only if they are financially supporting three or more children under the age of 18, are single fathers of children under 18, or have children or are guardians of children with disabilities.
In many cities, Telegram channels offer people keen to avoid the draft information on where conscription officers have been spotted that day; several videos have gone viral of officers bundling men into vans. Many business owners report men unwilling to come to work, scared they could be conscripted if they leave the house.
For those with money, there have been plenty of opportunities to buy their way out of mobilisation, usually by purchasing a doctored medical certificate that provides an exemption from military service and allows them to leave the country. The price has ranged from a few hundred dollars at the beginning of the war to about $5,000 in Odesa, several people have told the Guardian.
Oh, there are appalling horrors dished out to men, too. We've seen reports of castrations, etc.
The often misattributed quote comes to mind:
But conscientious objection is not doing nothing. Especially if those people who do not fight put their efforts behind non-violent means and work for the nation in humanitarian, political, or other ways. Zelenskiy himself is not in the meat grinder. He's doing other necessary things.
I think it's an embarrassing story for the likes of Nato and the EU who are forever portraying a united front against Russia.
It's appalling. Press ganged in the street by thugs and forced into the army to face a meatgrinder in the east of Ukraine.
The EU should never have admitted Poland without having a mechanism in place to ensure they adhered to the rules. Ukraine is pointing out the obvious. The EU needs to get its house in order or other nations wishing to do a trade deal may decide that it cannot be relied on to keep its side of the bargain. I mean, we don't want to turn into the UK now.
I understand what you are saying but a country of men who are conscientious objectors facing an invading force of raping murderers would not work out well for anyone in such a country.
Why Ukraine insist on attacking Russian forces instead of taking a defensive posture at some geographically protected line is impossible to understand. Its simply not rational.
Hold on. that's not exactly a new thing though is it.
