Over 4000 amendments: how the mobilization bill is being prepared for the second reading

The Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on National Security, Defense and Intelligence is preparing the mobilization bill for the second reading. The Committee has already stated that it does not agree with some points of the bill. The date of the vote on the mobilization bill will depend on how long this document will be considered by the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada on National Security and Defense. This was announced by the Secretary of this Committee, MP Roman Kostenko.

The Rada discusses controversial norms in the mobilization bill

Iryna Friz, a member of the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on National Security, Defense and Intelligence, reported on Facebook the details of the consideration of the mobilization bill, which is currently being prepared for the second reading.

According to her, following two days of work, the committee did not support the following norms:

• restrictions on leaving the country;
• blocking of accounts;
• electronic summonses;
• electronic cabinet as an obligation, but supported it as a right, that is, the possibility for military personnel, reservists and conscripts to use this mechanism to update data, etc.;
• reduction of the age from 27 to 25, since there is a law adopted by the Verkhovna Rada, which has not been signed for almost a year.

The deputies also did not reach an agreement on the restriction of consular services - the votes were divided 50/50, so they will work on this during the consideration of amendments.

"Restrictions on consular services for Ukrainians abroad will not only have no positive effect on the issue of mobilization, but will also have negative consequences - undermining citizens' trust in their own state, reducing motivation to protect the interests of Ukraine in the countries of residence (public events, etc.), increasing the number of those who will refuse Ukrainian citizenship at all," Iryna Friz wrote.

The heads of the committees of the Verkhovna Rada also discussed the issue of exemption from conscription during mobilization. Thus, the following were supported:

• those who have three or more children in their care, except for those who have arrears in alimony payments;
• guardians, trustees, foster parents, parents-educators, патронатні вихователі;
• guardians of a person who is recognized by the court as incapacitated;
• family members of I and II degrees of kinship of a person with disabilities of I and II groups.

"We also emphasized the need to regulate the issue of exemption from mobilization of persons who are caring for sick people who need constant care; the regulation of the issue for people with disabilities of the III group is a matter of principle, since we have thousands of appeals from citizens regarding this norm," added Iryna Friz, a member of the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on National Security, Defense and Intelligence.

Friz also reported that she insisted on removing the 50% reservation for civil servants of categories "B", "V" and returning to the current version, which is also supported by the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Defense. The Committee supported the first version.

In addition, on February 28, the Verkhovna Rada discussed the form of involving the police in notification measures with the participation of the TCC SP. The criteria for reservation for the National Police have also been normatively defined.

The MP reported that the Committee of the Rada supported the granting of the right to convicted persons who are released from serving their sentence with a probationary period to be called up for military service during mobilization. According to Iryna Friz, on February 29, the Committee will continue to work on approving the directions, and then will start considering the amendments, of which more than 4000 have been submitted.

When will the Verkhovna Rada adopt the mobilization bill?

However, the date of the vote on the mobilization bill will depend on how long this document will be considered by the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada on National Security and Defense. This was announced by the Secretary of this Committee, MP Roman Kostenko.

"It will depend on which MPs will submit amendments. Therefore, it will not be quick, but some experts say that it will be adopted by April," Kostenko said.

On February 7, the Verkhovna Rada supported the draft law on strengthening mobilization at the first reading. They also started talking about electronic summonses for men. By the way, as Deputy Defense Minister Kateryna Chornohorenko said in an interview with Forbes Ukraine, the electronic cabinet for military personnel, conscripts and military personnel will start working two months after President Volodymyr Zelensky signs the law on mobilization adopted by the Rada.

According to her, experts are currently preparing the functionality for the introduction of the "defender's certificate" and the document on the reservation of employees.