The Commission welcomes the sixth prolongation for another six months of the voluntary agreement between EU and Ukrainian telecommunications operators to ensure that refugees from Ukraine can stay connected across borders.

This agreement will bridge the period before Ukraine joins the EU ‘Roam like at Home’ area on 1 January 2026 as proposed by the Commission and subject to the Council’s approval.  

The Commission, together with the NCEC, the Ukrainian national regulatory authority, has facilitated the agreement. Affordable calls allow those finding shelter in Europe to reach family and friends in Ukraine, and vice versa. This has been made possible by the signatories, who have committed to mutually lowering their rates to connect calls across borders.

Operators that are signatories of the Joint Statement generally benefit from mutually lower rates than those who have not signed, which in turns means that they can offer lower charges to their customers.  

The Joint Statement remains open for all operators willing to join in these efforts (with an updated list of signatories). 

EU operators have continued to offer support to refugees from Ukraine and support in Ukraine, since the unprovoked and unjustified full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia. The Commission welcomes all the efforts made and the continued efforts to ensure that the Ukrainian people remain connected.  

Next steps 

In parallel, Ukraine has worked on fully aligning their legislation with that of the EU, in order to integrate into the EU Roaming area, and notified it to the Commission for its assessment. On 17 June 2025, the Commission proposed to integrate Ukraine into the EU Roaming area as from 1 January 2026 and sent the adopted proposal to the Council for its approval. Becoming part of the EU Roaming area would provide a more stable and long-term solution for roaming. 

In addition, the EU and Ukrainian operators are stepping up their actions further by additional commitments, open to more participation,  aimed at enabling Ukrainian refugees in the EU to keep using their Ukrainian SIM cards for as long as necessary in the same way as at home.  The Commission welcomes all the efforts made and the continued efforts to ensure that the Ukrainian people remain connected.

Background 

Telecom operators based in the EU and in Ukraine first signed the joint statement on their coordinated efforts to secure and stabilise affordable or free roaming and international calls between the EU and Ukraine in April 2022 when over 4 million refugees sought shelter in the EU.