From January 2026, Ukraine will officially join the European Union (EU) roaming area, enabling Ukrainians to text, call, and surf the internet across the 27 EU countries at no extra cost.
This step will significantly reduce mobile communication costs and help the many Ukrainians displaced by the Russian invasion stay connected with friends and family. The same benefits will also apply to EU citizens travelling to Ukraine, who will be able to use their mobile phones at domestic rates.
‘We want Ukrainian citizens to stay connected to their loved ones across the EU, as well as in their home country,’ said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. ‘That’s why we propose that Ukraine join our roaming family. Once more, we reaffirm our continued commitment to stand by Ukraine and its citizens.’
Introduced in 2017, the ‘Roam Like at Home,’ RLAH scheme allows EU consumers to travel between EU countries without worrying about additional roaming charges on their mobile phones. Ukraine will be the first country outside the European Union to join the (RLAH) area.
The current agreement between the EU and Ukrainian telecoms operators already guarantees reduced roaming costs for EU citizens in Ukraine and for Ukrainians throughout Europe. This agreement was introduced in April 2022, just two months after the Russian invasion, which displaced around four million Ukrainians. European and Ukrainian operators quickly agreed on voluntary measures to provide refugees with affordable mobile connectivity.
This provisional agreement, originally established as an emergency solution to help Ukrainian refugees, has been extended several times and will remain in place until Ukraine officially joins the RLAH programme in 2026.
We want Ukrainian citizens to stay connected to their loved ones across the EU, as well as in their home country.
— European Commission (@EU_Commission) June 19, 2025
Once more, we reaffirm our continued commitment to stand with Ukraine and its citizens.#StandWithUkraine
Once fully integrated, Ukrainians visiting any EU country will be able to use mobile services, including SMS, calls, and data, at domestic rates. The agreement also guarantees that consumers will be entitled to the ‘same mobile network quality and speed as at homeand that access to emergency services is free of charge’.
Last week, the European Commission submitted the proposal to the Council for approval. If confirmed, the new rules will come into force on 1 January 2026.
Ukraine’s Prime Minister, Denys Shmyhal, welcomed the proposal, calling it ‘a sign of high appreciation of our European integration efforts’. He added: ‘We expect that the EU Council will soon approve this decision, and that from the beginning of 2026, Ukraine will become part of the single European communication space.’
Ukraine has been seeking to join the roaming area since April 2022. In that same month, Commission President von der Leyen promised to work with Ukraine to achieve this goal ASAP.
Grateful to the @EU_Commission for proposing Ukraine’s inclusion in the EU Roaming area from 2026. This practical step toward Single Market integration delivers real benefits for our people and economy — and reaffirms that Ukraine’s future is in the EU. Ukrainians will soon feel…
— Denys Shmyhal (@Denys_Shmyhal) June 18, 2025
In early June 2025, Kyiv informed Brussels that it had fulfilled all the necessary EU conditions to join the roaming area. Ukrainian legislation is now fully aligned with the EU’s roaming rules, as specified in the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.
EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen called it a historic moment, highlighting that Ukraine had worked hard to align its telecom legislation with European standards.
The wider RLAH policy was recently extended to 2032, allowing all Europeans to continue using their mobile phones across EU countries without extra roaming charges for another seven years, a protection now set to include Ukraine as well.
