The head of Ukraine's State Agency for Ethnic Policy has called for the creation of regional offices and an expansion of the agency's staff

Viktor Yelensky, head of Ukraine’s State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), has stated the need to strengthen the agency institutionally, including by establishing regional offices and expanding the central staff. According to him, this is necessary to ensure a unified state policy on freedom of conscience and the rights of national minorities throughout the country.

According to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency, issues related to religion and ethnic groups in the regions are currently handled by employees of regional state administrations. However, Yelensky insists on establishing DESS structures in the regions so that policy in these sensitive areas is nationwide rather than local. Each regional office is planned to include a state registrar of religious organizations’ charters and specialists in relations with national minorities.

The State Agency for Religious Affairs is preparing a corresponding budget proposal for 2027. The head of the agency emphasized that the creation of new structures will not place a significant burden on the state budget, as the necessary specialists are already working within the staff of regional administrations, and the issue is more one of reorganization and standardization of approaches.

Viktor Yelensky explained the need to expand the central apparatus of the service by citing the emergence of new functions. In particular, the head of the State Agency for Ethnic and National Minorities will now chair bilateral intergovernmental commissions on the rights of national minorities (Ukrainian-Hungarian, Romanian, Slovak, and German). The agency has also been tasked with countering hate speech and ensuring non-discrimination policies.

Despite these ambitious plans, the DESS budget for 2026 is set at the 2025 level and amounts to 64 million hryvnias. Previously, the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy had already called on the Cabinet of Ministers to strengthen the agency’s institutional capacity, noting that a shortage of personnel and resources hinders the effective implementation of relevant legislation.