Estonia's Interior Minister Clarifies His Statement on Assistance to Ukraine with Mobilisation

Interior Minister of Estonia Lauri Läänemets has clarified his previous statements regarding the likelihood of extraditing men of conscription age to Ukraine.

Läänemets noted on Facebook that his words that Estonia would help Ukraine find men of conscription age had been "slightly distorted".

"It is important to emphasise unequivocally: I, as the Minister of Internal Affairs, or the Estonian state, certainly have no goal to start driving Ukrainian men of conscription age who live here to the front," he wrote.

The minister added that Estonia never decides who or when Ukraine decides to conscript.

"In connection with this, the question arises: what would Estonia do in such a situation? On the one hand, Ukrainians are a significant support for our economy today… However, the fact remains: these people are still citizens of Ukraine… This means that if the Ukrainian state decides to repatriate them through mobilisation, we will have to share information with the Ukrainian state about people residing here," emphasised Läänemets.

He said that if Ukraine approached Estonia, requesting assistance in mobilising Ukrainian citizens living here, "it would be quite difficult for us to refuse".

"However, it should be noted that today we do not have such an opportunity under international law, which would require a separate agreement between countries or at least a decision at the government level," added the Estonian minister.

On 23 December, Estonian Interior Minister Lauri Läänemets said that Estonia is ready to help Ukraine mobilise its citizens if necessary.

The Estonian minister made this statement after several German media outlets published an interview with Rustem Umierov, the Minister of Defence of Ukraine, in which plans to conscript Ukrainians abroad were mentioned.

Subsequently, the Ministry of Defence clarified that Minister Rustem Umierov calls on all Ukrainians to join the Armed Forces, but the mechanism of punishment or legal pressure on men outside of Ukraine does not arise now.