Support from Finnish neighbouring area cooperation funds for a Belarusian university operating in exile in Lithuania

Press release 41/2006
22 February, 2006


Finland has granted 100,000 euros from the appropriations allocated for neighbouring area cooperation for a Belarusian university operating in exile in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. Finnish support for the European Humanities University will be channelled through the Nordic Council of Ministers. Together with the European Union, the Council of Ministers will assist the University with a donation amounting to approximately 2.8 million euros. With their three-year project, the Nordic Countries and the EU aim at educating 350 Belarusians in Vilnius. The Finnish donation will be used to cover some of the first year's expenses of the university.

The European Humanities University started its operation in Minsk, Belarus, in 1992 as a non-state university with a Western focus. The university aims at educating young Belarusians according to Western standards, so that their grades and degrees would be directly recognisable in Western Europe and the United States. In summer 2004, the lease on the university premises was cancelled and, soon after that, its licence was revoked. The university moved to Vilnius, where it started its operation in the beginning of this year.

Finland places much importance on the development of the Belarusian civic society. The university can play a significant role in this effort, and it offers Belarusian students an alternative that is built upon European values.

Additional information: Counsellor Tuula Yrjölä, Unit of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, tel. +358 9 1605 5604