OPENING REMARKS
by H.E. Ihor Prokopchuk, Ambassador of Ukraine to Romania,
at a Conference
“Multilingualism in Today's Europe”
Bucharest, 26 September 2025
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Distinguished participants,
Buna dimineata, доброго ранку, good morning!
I wish to start by thanking for the invitation to join this important conference “Multilingualism in Today’s Europe,” dedicated to the celebration of the European Day of Languages. I thank for the opportunity to address participants of this event, as we have gathered to highlight the richness of Europe’s linguistic diversity and the importance of safeguarding it for present and future generations.
It is good that speaking about our languages we can learn more about each other and promote mutual understanding.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
From the national perspective let me point out that Ukraine is a multiethnic country, with over 130 different ethnicities. Whereas Ukrainian is a state language in Ukraine, all national minorities enjoy favourable conditions to preserve their languages and cultural traditions.
Being the epicentre of the brutal war of aggression unleashed by Russia the people in Ukraine attach now particular significance to the questions of language as a factor of resilience.
In times of conflict, language is more than a tool of communication. It is an anchor of identity, a repository of memory and a foundation for unity. We remember from our past history, before restoration of Ukraine’s independence, how Tsarist Russia and then Communist Soviet Union attempted to entirely annihilate the Ukrainian language banning or restricting its use, its studies and literature. Research shows that there were 134 recorded attempts to ban the Ukrainian language over 4 centuries of repressions. This means that language repressions ran over generations. In this light it appears a miracle that the language survived and developed. The modern Ukrainian language contains over 256 thousand words whereas normally only 2-3 thousand are sufficient for daily communication. The most translated in the foreign languages among Ukrainian literary works is the Testament by Taras Shevchenko, a Ukrainian national genius of the 19th century. This work has been translated into 140 foreign languages.
Unfortunately, the horrible practices of the past get repeated today in the territories of my country which are under Russian occupation. The occupation authorities ban the teaching of the Ukrainian language, remove it from school curricula. Denial of Ukrainian identity, culture, and language is used by Kremlin as ideological justification of the armed aggression and occupation.
Despite the war, Ukraine is making an inspiring progress on its EU membership path, promotes the state language and improves protection of rights and languages of national minorities of Ukraine. A truly diverse and integrated democratic society means that strengthening the state language does not diminish the significance of others, but ensures conditions when all citizens may thrive in their cultural and linguistic diversity.
We should continue to aim to make sure that our diversity and multilingualism are a strength and not a weakness to be exploited by the enemies of democracy and plurality.
Distinguished participants,
I wish all who have gathered here an interesting day of presentations, exchange of views and celebration the linguistic diversity of Europe, in which Ukraine is an integral part.
Thank you!
Дякую за увагу!