BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

29/03/2007

Support for Belarussian students

The Nordic countries give Belarussian citizens an opportunity to study abroad because of the political situation in their own country, providing scholarships as part of a programme started by the Nordic Council of Ministers and the EU last year. It was devised to fund young Belarussians who would otherwise have been unable to continue their studies at home after spring 2006.

"This partnership with the EU offers young people from Belarus an opportunity to get to know a neighbouring country experiencing the democratisation process. They get to forge contacts abroad and acquire knowledge and competencies in a free academic environment. The programme constitutes a tangible Nordic contribution to promoting democracy in the neighbouring countries," says Halldor Asgrimsson, Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers.

The second round of applications for scholarships has just started. Belarussians are now eligible to apply for grants to study in Ukraine. The deadline for applications is 15 May 2007.

As well as these scholarships, the Nordic Council of Ministers helps fund European Humanities University (EHU) in partnership with the EU Commission, Finland and Sweden. Norway provides the university with bilateral aid and is planning further contributions, the extent and nature of which will be decided this spring.

Nordic and EU funding enables some 550 Belarussian students to attend EHU. EHU was founded in MInsk in 1991 but was closed in 2004 when it moved to the capital of Lithuania, Vilnius, as a university in exile.

Per Larsson, adviser, the Nordic Council of Ministers

pla@norden.org

+45 21 71 71 31

Source:

http://www.norden.org/webb/news/news.asp?id=6842&lang=6