"Some consolation"

Roaming agreement with Ukraine extended

People from Ukraine can make phone calls, send messages and use the internet within the EU for another year without high additional costs. The voluntary agreement between 22 European and seven Ukrainian telecommunications operators will be continued.

This was announced by the EU Commission on Wednesday. The aim is to enable displaced persons from Ukraine to stay in contact with their home country more cheaply. This is the fifth extension of the agreement. "We can only hope that staying in touch through affordable phone calls has brought some comfort", said EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager.

At the same time, Ukraine had been working on a joint roaming zone with the European Union. A corresponding law was signed by President Volodymyr Selensky in mid-June. Ukraine must now receive a positive assessment of the legislative changes from the European side and begin negotiations with the EU on joining the single roaming area.

Since 2017, there have been no roaming charges in the 27 EU member states as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. This means that mobile customers can call, text and surf the internet in other EU countries at no extra cost.