Lithuania, Russia sign science, education cooperation agreement

Lithuania and Russia concluded an agreement in Vilnius on Friday on bilateral cooperation in the science and education area. Education Ministers Algirdas Monkevicius and Vladimir Filippov affixed their signatures to the document. The agreement calls for mutual recognition of diplomas of higher learning institutions and degrees granted to Russian and Lithuanian graduates. The two sides also pledged to support the right of the Russian-speaking minority in Lithuania and Lithuanians in Russia to study in their native language and maintain ethnic culture distinctive features.