What changed for Ukrainian customers after the language rule took effect?
A look back at the service-language provision that came into force on 16 January 2021, and at a Moldovan presidential visit days earlier.
What did it mean for everyday life in Ukraine when a service-language rule came into force? On 18 January 2021, two days after the change, the question was still fresh. As reported at the time, on 16 January 2021 a provision of the Law on the Language took effect under which citizens must be served in Ukrainian.
The provision applied to ordinary encounters between customers and those serving them, which is what made it a matter of daily experience rather than only of legislation.
A regional visit days earlier
On 12 January 2021, Moldovan President Maia Sandu arrived in Ukraine on her first foreign visit as president. Both countries said they were willing to join the Three Seas Initiative and the European Union.
The two items were separate, but together they marked the opening weeks of 2021 in Ukrainian public life: a domestic rule reaching into everyday transactions, and a diplomatic visit in which Kyiv and Chisinau stated shared aims.
