On Tuesday, 31 May, an online consultation meeting was held within the framework of the Council of Europe project "Strengthening the Protection of National Minorities, including Roma, and Minority Languages in Ukraine". 

The participants of the event discussed the needs and situation of national minorities in the context of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

The meeting was attended by Mr. Steen Norlov, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine and Mr. Thorsten Afflerbach, Head of the Division for Inclusion and Anti-Discrimination Programmes of the Council of Europe. Mr. Dmytro Lubinets, Chairman of the Parliament Committee on Human Rights and Ms. Liudmyla Denysova, Commissioner for Human Rights also joined the meeting. 

Representatives of the educational and cultural fronts participated as well:  Ms. Olena Bohdan, Head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience, Mr. Yurii Kononenko, Head of the Department of General Secondary and Preschool Education of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. In addition, Melitopol Deputy Mayor Mr. Mykhailo Semikin took part in the online event. 

Other participants were representatives of state institutions and NGOs of national minorities in Zakarpattia, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, Kirovohrad, Volyn and Chernihiv oblasts. So in total 60 people joined the event. 

The recommendations and conclusions of the online meeting will be used in further development of the Council of Europe's programs. The results of the discussion will also be sent to partners in Ukraine to respond the needs of national communities.