On February 18th eight Nordic cooperation ministers come on an official visit to Lithuania. The ministers represent Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Finland as well as three autonomous areas: Greenland, Faeroe Islands and Aland.
The Nordic ministers will meet the Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė and the Baltic counterparts; the ministers will also visit the European Humanities University (EHU), which is the Belarusian exile university.
Nordic–Baltic partnerships are a key theme of the visit to the Lithuanian capital. The agenda for the meeting between the Nordic ministers and their colleagues from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania includes closer Nordic–Baltic collaboration, the EU’s Baltic Sea Strategy, and Belarus with particular focus on the EHU.
Belarusian exile students can look forward to continued political and financial support from the Nordic countries. The Nordic countries are prepared to provide an additional €300,000 to fund the EHU.
“The Nordic Council of Ministers wishes to support initiatives that maintain the hope of establishing democracy and a normal civil society in Belarus. Support for EHU represents a long-term investment in both the future of Belarus and the future of a united Europe,” says Bertel Haarder, the Danish Minister of Education, who doubles as Minister for Nordic Co-operation.
The close working relationships between the Baltic and Nordic countries helped to inspire the EU’s Baltic Sea Strategy, which was adopted during the Swedish EU Presidency in autumn 2009.
“Nordic-Baltic co-operation is at the very core of the development of a strong and competitive Baltic Sea Region – what we call the ‘Top of Europe’,” Haarder added. “The Danish Presidency will strive to ensure that the Nordic Council of Ministers plays its part in implementing the EU’s Baltic Sea Strategy, which will benefit citizens as well as businesses.”
The European Humanities University has played a leading role in efforts to preserve intellectual freedom in Belarus since it was founded in Minsk in 1992. Closed by President Lukashenko in 2004 and forced into exile in Vilnius, the EHU is now the sole Belarusian alternative to state-controlled higher education.
The Nordic Council of Ministers is the forum of cooperation for the governments of the five Nordic countries - Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, including the autonomous areas of the Faeroe Islands, Greenland and Aland.
For more information:
Irma Žukauskaitė
European Humanities University
Tel. +370 5 2639652
E-mail: irma.zukauskaite @ ehu.lt
Karin Arvidson
Head of Communications
Nordic Council of Ministers
Tel. +45 21 71 71 45
E-mail: kaa @ norden.org
