The Irish Foreign Minister, Mr. Dermot Ahern, announced a grant of 60,538 euros to support the EHU’s Bachelor’s Programme on Visual Design and Media, as well as the development of EHU’s links with the University of Limerick. Press release (May 22, 2006)
At a meeting of the EHU International Council in Vilnius on 9 May 2006, the International Committee for the Support of the European Humanities University was announced. The Committee brings together leading figures in education from North America and Europe and expresses the solidarity of the world educational community towards EHU and in the protection of academic freedoms in Belarus as a whole. The Committee will be led by Jonathan Fenton, President of the John and Catherine MacArthur Foundation, and Lloyd Axworthy, Rector of the University of Winnipeg and former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Canada. Press release from the MacArthur Foundation; list of members of the International Committee for Support of the EHU (09.05.2006)
At the “Autonomy and Responsibility of Universities in the 21st Century” colloquium held in Prague on March 30, 2006, the Commission on Culture, Science and Education of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a statement strongly condemning the violation of the principle of academic freedom in the Republic of Belarus. “The Commission welcomes the support provided by the international community and, in particular, Lithuania, to the European Humanities University, which was expelled from Minsk (Belarus) and currently works in Vilnius. The Commission called on member governments, as well as universities in Europe, to cooperate with the European Humanities University and establish student exchanges and exchanges of teachers,” the statement reads. Full text of THE PACE statement on academic freedom in Belarus in Russian and English (31.03.2006)
The General Assembly of the European Universities Foundation / Campus Europae (EUF/CE) has issued an official announcement on the results of the meeting held in Luxembourg on 27 March 2006. In particular, it is stated that “The General Assembly warmly congratulates the European Humanities University on its official registration as an international university in Lithuania. Now EHU resumes its active membership in the campus Europae university network and continues to contribute to the development of democracy in Belarus.” EUF/CE communique (27.03.2006)
On Friday, March 24, the Nordic Council of Ministers signed a treaty with the European Humanities University (EHU) in Vilnius to support this Belarusian university in exile. The contract, worth 2.78 million euros, allows 350 students from Belarus to study at the EHU for three years under various bachelor’s and master’s programs. The contribution of 2.2 million euros makes the European Commission the largest donor. SMSS press release in English, Lithuanian and Russian (23.03.2006)
On March 7, 2006, a number of factions of the German Federal Parliament issued a statement “Belarus on the eve of the 2006 presidential elections.” Noting the increasing political control over the education system in Belarus, which led to the closure of the European Humanities University and its expulsion, as well as the use of repressive measures against schoolchildren and students participating in the activities of the opposition, the parliamentarians called on the Federal Government to “continue to support academic cooperation with the European University of Humanities – International in Vilnius and universities in Belarus” (p.3 of Title II). (07.03.2006)
The government of the Republic of Lithuania has agreed to establish a Belarusian European Humanities University in exile. Lithuanian Government press release in Russian and Lithuanian (15.02.2006)
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution on the situation in Belarus on the eve of the presidential elections. Among other things, the resolution called on The PACE to demand President Lukashenko and the Belarusian authorities “respect academic freedoms and, in particular, provide appropriate conditions for the return of the European Humanitarian University to Minsk” (p.12.11). In addition, the Assembly calls on the European Union to “continue to support the European Humanitarian University in exile in Vilnius” (p.15.4). (26.01.2006)
Since the beginning of January 2006, a joint project of the European Humanities University and the Nordic Council of Ministers, supported by the European Commission within the framework of the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights, has been launched. SMSS press release (19.12.2005)
The Irish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced a grant of 20,000 euros to support the work of the European Humanities University in Vilnius. The grant is intended to fund EHU’s distance education programs. Read the press release of the Irish Foreign Ministry. (16.12.2005)
The Institute of International Education’s Scholar Rescue Fund has awarded a $50,000 grant to the European Humanities University to support the rebirth of the university in exile in Vilnius. FSU press release in English (12.12.2005)
The Nordic Council of Ministers issued a press release announcing the organization’s plans with the European Union to support the EHU in Vilnius. Read the press release in Russian and English. (27.09.2005)
Resolution of the European Parliament on the political situation and the independence of the media in Belarus. Two paragraphs of the resolution deal with the fate of the European Humanities University and its students (07.07.2005).
At an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers, the issue of opening the EHU in Lithuania was discussed. Read the press service of the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry in Russian and Lithuanian (15.04.2005).
The resolution of the European Parliament on the situation with political prisoners in Belarus includes a subsection devoted entirely to the EHU (10.03.2005)
The EU Action Plan for Support for Democracy in Our Country includes support for the EHU In Exile (24.02.2005)
Statement by European Democratic Students on the closure of the European Humanities University (19.02.2005)
Legal Writing Institute Statement (04/02/2005)
Resolution of the Presidency of the Conference of Rectors of The Universities of Poland (18.11.2004)
Statement by the International Board of Trustees of the European Humanities University (29.10.2004)
From Lech Kaczynski, President of Warsaw, to the rector of EHU A. Mikhailov (21.10.2004)
From Jonathan F. Fanton, President of the John D. and Catherine T. McCarturov Foundation, To Mr. Alexander Lukashenko, President of the Republic of Belarus (11.10.2004)
On 4 October 2004, Luxembourg hosted a meeting of the General Assembly of the European Universities Foundation / Campus Europae (EUF/CE) Consortium of Universities Of Universities. The EUF/CE General Assembly adopted a Resolution on the European Humanities University, which, among other things, states that “the European Humanities University (EHU) was and still is a full member of the EUF/CE” and that “in view of the Belarusian government’s attack on the academic freedoms and academic democratic development of the EHU, without any justification on the part of the latter, EHU was deprived of the formal status of the university in Belarus, and, for this reason, cannot – currently – accredit its academic programs.” The full text of the Resolution in Russian and English. (04.10.2004)
From students of the Campus Europae University Consortium (09.2004)
From Bremen International University (Germany) (09.2004)
A group of prominent European intellectuals, which included Pierre Assner, Eugene Bystritsky, Hans-Georg Wieck, Bronislaw Geremek, Vladimir Gelman, Klaus Segbers, Antony Kaminsky, John Leuvenhardt, Raimundas Lopata, Marie Mandra, Dmitri Trenin, Jurgen Habermas, Gezine Schwan, Peter Eigen, sent an open letter to the University Read the text of the letter in Russian and English. (28.07.2004)