Diplomacy That Creates Opportunities: On the Pylyp Orlyk Foundation’s Partnership with Diplomat Vasyl Bodnar
Vasyl Bodnar is leaving his post as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Republic of Poland and moving to a new role as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. This news gave the Pylyp Orlyk Foundation an occasion to thank him for the partnership and support, and to share the results of our joint work.
Diplomat Vasyl Bodnar and the Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Poland, which he headed, have become for us not just partners, but also an important support in promoting the Ukrainian language within the Polish education system.
This work already has concrete results: this year, Poland held its first state graduation exam in Ukrainian, and a number of Polish schools are already teaching, or preparing to teach, Ukrainian as a second foreign language.
This matters to us especially because it is not only about educational opportunities. The Ukrainian language has become one of the tools that lets children who found themselves outside Ukraine because of Russian aggression maintain a connection to their culture, history, and identity. This was discussed during three international conferences, “Ukrainian as a Foreign Language in Poland,” held in Wrocław, Warsaw, and Kraków, where the Embassy and the Foundation were proud to be partners.
During the opening of the 2nd International Conference in Warsaw, Vasyl Bodnar emphasized:
“Poland has become an important space for millions of Ukrainians who were forced to leave their homes because of Russia’s brutal aggression against Ukraine. We are convinced that integrating Ukrainian children into Polish society is extremely important and, in a way, necessary for their development. At the same time, it is no less important for them to maintain a connection to their culture, language, and identity. The Ukrainian language is the foundation of this connection. That is why we consistently support initiatives aimed at developing and promoting the Ukrainian language, as well as ensuring its high-quality and systematic teaching within the Polish education system.”
Back in 2025, at the initiative and invitation of Ambassador Vasyl Bodnar, the Pylyp Orlyk Foundation supported the creation of a curriculum for teaching Ukrainian as a second foreign language in Polish schools. Its author is Pavlo Levchuk, associate professor at the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The Embassy of Ukraine in Poland became an important partner in promoting this initiative and expanding the network of Polish schools now teaching Ukrainian.
For the Pylyp Orlyk Foundation, the partnership with Vasyl Bodnar is an example of how diplomacy can strengthen humanitarian and educational initiatives, and how the Ukrainian voice abroad can become not only louder, but institutionally stronger.
We are sincerely grateful to Vasyl Bodnar and the team of the Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Poland for everything they have done, their support of important initiatives, and their openness to cooperation.
We wish Vasyl Bodnar success in his new position as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, and we look forward to continued cooperation!
