Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen, Director-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, spoke at the 2025 Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome in the panel on Education and Human Development on behalf of Executive Vice-President Roxana Minzatu, alongside Italian Minister Giuseppe Valditara and Ukrainian Minister Oksen Lisoviy, who joined remotely.

Ms Ahrenkilde Hansen emphasised that investment in Ukraine’s recovery starts with people: the students, teachers, youth and professionals, who continue to learn, teach, create and lead, despite Russia’s continuing full-scale war of aggression.

She also reaffirmed the EU’s vision of education as a key enabler for recovery,  EU accession and long-term competitiveness.  

That is why the European Commission is stepping up actions to facilitate Ukraine’s progressive EU integration.

New initiatives announced

• Preparations for Ukraine’s full association to Erasmus+ – granting Ukrainian learners and educators access to the programme on the same terms as their EU peers.
• A €5 million investment to print and distribute about 2 million textbooks in Ukraine during the 2025/2026 school year, enhancing access to quality learning materials.

Ongoing support

Since 2022, over 39,000 Ukrainian young people, students and staff have benefited from Erasmus+ mobility. Over the same period, the EU also supported over 70 capacity building projects in education, training, youth and sport linking Ukrainian education institutions with EU partners.

A key element of the EU’s support is the Ukraine Facility, the €50 billion instrument designed to support reforms and investments. It supports strategic reforms in preschool and vocational education, as well the creation of quality learning environments, to support the country on its EU accession path.

The EU continues to support over 700,000 Ukrainian children who are studying in EU countries. It also supports displaced researchers via the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.

Through a frontloaded €100 million under Erasmus+, the EU is enabling smooth curriculum integration, language training, psychosocial support, and mutual recognition processes, ensuring that no learner is left behind.