On November 29, the State Language Protection Commissioner Taras Kremin spoke at the 1st International Expert Forum "Poland-Ukraine: New Educational and Cultural Challenges" which was held online and offline (Kyiv-Krakow).

During the Forum, the language policy of Ukraine, the situation of ethnic minorities in Poland, as well as the educational needs of children and youth from Ukraine were discussed.

Taras Kremin focused on the issues of spreading the Ukrainian language in the world and helping to meet the linguistic needs of Ukrainians abroad and citizens of Ukraine who were forced to find themselves far outside the country due to the russian-Ukrainian war.

"The protection of the Ukrainian language abroad is one of the political tasks we face today", he said.

The Commissioner thanked the Polish community for the opportunity for Ukrainians in Poland to study according to Ukrainian programs, the opening of Ukrainian schools, the popularization of the Ukrainian language, and the support of Ukrainian content.

"The line of defense passes not only through the territory of Ukraine, but through all civilized European countries, which know from their history what the russian boot, russian narratives, concentration camps, deportation mean", the Commissioner noted.

Taras Kremin emphasized the need to strengthen cooperation with educational institutions and initiatives in Poland to increase opportunities to meet the language needs of ethnic Ukrainians in Poland, study Ukrainian as a second foreign language, and support Ukrainian educators to speed up granting them the right to teach in educational institutions in Poland.

The Commissioner also informed the participants of the Forum about the work of the Commissioner's Secretariat regarding the collection of facts about the linguocide of the Ukrainian language in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine: "More than 200 facts have already been collected and transferred to the relevant international and domestic institutions. Unfortunately, as long as the occupiers are on our territory, as long as new facts of linguocide are appeared."