On 8 December in Bonn, President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek received the prestigious North Rhine-Westphalia annual award the “Staatspreis” for the significant role of the EP in an enlarged Europe and the strengthening of democracy in the European Union.
On 8 December in Bonn, President of the European Parliament (EP) Jerzy Buzek received the prestigious North Rhine-Westphalia annual award the “Staatspreis” for the significant role of the EP in an enlarged Europe and the strengthening of democracy in the European Union. The award comes with a prize of €25 000, which EP President J.Buzek has decided to donate to the European Humanities University (EHU), the Belarusian university in exile in Vilnius.
In his speech, J.Buzek mentioned that he had a good impression after visiting the EHU. According to him, teachers and students of this university represent the bright future of Belarus. The EP President noted that even after the closure in 2004 in Belarus, the EHU activities did not cease, and in 2005 it was re-opened in Vilnius.
Rector of the EHU Anatoly Mikhailov also attended the event.
After the ceremony, the participants had a discussion on the future of Europe, the European Parliament's activities and its role as the only EU institution which is democratically and directly elected . Other topics of the discussion covered the importance of the Treaty of Lisbon, the necessity for the EU to express a common position on foreign policy, climate change and migration.
J.Buzek visited Lithuania on 2 October. The EP President met with the leaders of the state and students of the EHU.
Due to political reasons, in 2004 the EHU was closed down in Minsk and at the invitation of the Government of Lithuania the university moved to Vilnius in 2005. The university has been granted the status of a Lithuanian university. Currently, over one and a half thousand Belarusians study at the university.
By inviting this Belarusian university to resume its activities in Vilnius, Lithuania has undertaken commitments to support it until there are real possibilities for the university to settle in Belarus. Since 2007, Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has supported the maintenance of the EHU premises and the programme LitPro. This project of teaching the Lithuanian language and culture to the students and teachers of the EHU is implemented by Vilnius University.
In 2008, aiming to ensure a long-term funding of the EHU, the European Commission initiated the establishment of the EHU Trust Fund and invited all the EU member states and international donors to support this initiative. In 2009, Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs allocated 794 thousand Litas (230 thousand euros) to this Fund.