In Warsaw, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya met for the first time with the Rector of the European Humanities University, Vilius Šadauskas. The Chair of the University’s Governing Board, Mantas Adomėnas, also took part in the meeting.
Ms. Tsikhanouskaya stressed that the EHU is a major asset and an important institution for Belarusian society, calling for preserving it as a Belarusian university within the European higher education area and safeguarding its Belarusian mission and focus.
The discussion covered Belarusian programs at the university, teaching the Belarusian language, greater involvement of Belarusians in decision-making, and possible consultations on the university’s future with Belarusian civil society and academia. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya had previously sent the university’s leadership a letter outlining proposals for its development from the Belarusian community.
She urged the EHU leadership to support Belarusian students, graduates, and faculty members, some of whom have already faced repression. Many are unable to return home following the university’s designation as an “extremist organization”. Mr. Šadauskas and Ms. Tsikhanouskaya also discussed the safety of students and applicants, as well as the challenges students and staff face in regularizing their status in Lithuania.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “In my team, we have both EHU graduates and lecturers. I know how much this university has given to Belarusians, and I want future generations of students to have the same opportunity. Talented students should be able to study regardless of their family’s income, and Belarusian lecturers should be able to continue their work. And, of course, the university should preserve its Belarusian mission and focus. We will continue consultations with the university’s leadership, and I hope we will communicate and cooperate more closely”.
