«In Ukraine, there should be no debate about the need to communicate in the state language and to implement the Law of Ukraine «On Ensuring the Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as a State Language», Taras Kremin, the State Language Protection Commissioner said at the 6th Ukrainian Women's Congress.

"Language is a key and basic factor for Ukraine. And it was put an end to the language issue not even on February 24, 2022 but on August 24, 1991”, he underlined.

At the same time, according to the Commissioner, the war factor definitely affected the linguistic sphere as well. "According to a number of sociological surveys conducted after February 24, 2022, at least 80% of Ukrainian citizens recognize Ukrainian as their native language and have switched to Ukrainian even in everyday life. "Today's discussion about the importance of the Ukrainian language is about the concept of "own-foreign", it is about the importance of protecting national interests, the information field, it is our cultural diplomacy, it is our linguistic diplomacy," he emphasized.

Taras Kremin emphasized that top officials, politicians, and mayors should show an example in the matter of compliance with language legislation. "Perhaps one day, the State Language Protection Commissioner will be the institution that, by its presence and participation in forums and congresses, will only remind of the times when some politicians, top officials, and mayors of individual cities allowed themselves to raise this issue. As it seems that in the conditions of support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the strengthening of sanctions against the aggressor, the capacity of individual communities, as well as the search for resources to convince our people (over 5 million) to return to Ukraine, they should be an example of compliance with the language legislation," the Commissioner said.

Taras Kremin also told the participants of the Congress about the work of the Commissioner's Secretariat in the conditions of martial law and reminded which norms of the Law "On Ensuring the Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as a State Language" came into force this year.

The Commissioner informed that today there are more than 350 free platforms for learning the Ukrainian language in Ukraine. "More than 350 free language courses are volunteering, which is entrusted to the heart of our teachers, library workers, after-school, preschool, and people who worked in universities incl. with the status of internally displaced institutions. Language courses initiated by the people of Donetsk and Luhansk continue to work, and the courses organized by the Kherson Regional Universal Scientific Universal Library named after Oles Honchar have been running for a long time," he noted.

Besides, Taras Kremin emphasized the importance of creating opportunities to learn the Ukrainian language for those citizens who were forced to go abroad: "My task as the Commissioner is to carry out the tasks defined by the law and work to ensure that Ukrainian is available in other countries of the world where our children study, where pedagogical workers should have the opportunity to teach our children, either in Lithuania or in Hungary, the Ukrainian language and the disciplines of the Ukrainian studies component."

"We have to do everything in order the Ukrainian language finally returns to our hearts and on our lips," he summarized.

6th Ukrainian Women's Congress "Values during War" took place on November 28 in Kyiv. The event was dedicated to the challenges faced by women during the war and the values with which the Ukrainian and international community overcomes these challenges.