Roaming in Ukraine and Moldova: what joining the EU area means

How two non-EU countries got in

Neither country joined the EU or the EEA to get there. Both have association agreements with the EU, and under them they first wrote the EU roaming rules into their own law, then asked the EU to check the result. Once the EU's assessment was positive, a joint body under each agreement took the final step.

For Ukraine, the EU-Ukraine Association Committee in Trade configuration decided that the EU and Ukraine grant each other internal market treatment for roaming. For Moldova, the EU-Moldova Association Council granted further market opening in the sector, and its decision lists the EU acts that now bind both sides, among them the roaming regulation, Regulation (EU) 2022/612, and the implementing rules on fair use. Both decisions now apply, and the European Commission has announced roaming as fully operational in each country.

What an EU traveller gets in Kyiv or Chisinau

With a plan from an EU country, calls, texts and data in Ukraine or Moldova are charged as at home, out of the same allowance. The Commission puts it plainly: the roaming rules that apply in the EU now also apply in each of the two countries. That brings the familiar package with it, including the fair use limits on unlimited and very cheap plans and the free message your operator sends when you arrive.

BEREC, the body of EU telecom regulators, announced that it would add both countries to the databases operators use to warn travellers about special-rate numbers and about the ways to reach emergency services. In practice, the welcome message you get on arrival should look like the one you get in Portugal or Poland, with home prices, your fair use terms and the emergency information.

What a Ukrainian or Moldovan plan gets in the EU

The rule runs both ways. A Ukrainian or Moldovan line used in any of the 27 EU countries is charged at domestic prices, with no roaming surcharge. The Commission links the Ukrainian decision to Russia's war of aggression, noting how important it is for displaced people and families to stay in touch.

The rule is designed for periodic travel, though, as it is for EU customers. Operators may apply a fair use policy, and the EU rules allow them to look at where a line is used over a period of at least four months, as we explain in our guide to EU roaming fair use. If you are living in an EU country for good, a local line from that country is the arrangement those rules have in mind.

What the decisions leave out

• Roaming between Ukraine and Moldova: each decision only links one country with the EU.
• Plans from Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein: the three EEA states are not parties to these decisions, and the Commission's announcements do not mention them.
• Ships and planes: their own satellite-linked networks stay outside the roaming caps, as they do in the EU.
• Plans from anywhere else, such as the UK, Switzerland or the United States, whose roaming prices are still set by their own operators.

For any of these cases, the answer is in your operator's tariff, not in EU law. Search its roaming page for Ukraine and Moldova by name: some operators list countries in zones that do not match the legal map.

Next in line: the Western Balkans

The Commission has proposed opening negotiations with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia to bring them into the roam like at home area, and the Council has authorised talks with Albania. The Commission says there is no set deadline, and that each partner would first have to align fully with the EU roaming rules and show it can monitor and enforce them.

Until that happens, a voluntary agreement between EU and Western Balkan operators caps retail data roaming prices between the two regions, according to the Commission. If your route continues from Moldova into the Balkans, or you are planning a trip there from the EU, our Balkans guide explains how to cover the stretches outside the area.

Checking it when you arrive

The quickest check is the free text from your operator when your phone first connects. If it confirms home prices, you are covered. If it lists a price per minute or per megabyte instead, either your phone is on a network outside the area, which can happen near a border, or your plan is not one the rule protects. Our guide to the roaming welcome SMS explains what each line means.

If your plan is from outside the area, a local data plan avoids per-day roaming. Snoozim sells separate data eSIMs for Ukraine and Moldova: each works only in its own country, starts counting when it first connects there, and sits next to your usual line, which keeps your number for calls and WhatsApp.