Belarus designates the European Humanities University as an ‘extremist organisation’

The Supreme Court of Belarus has designated the European Humanities University (EHU) as an ‘extremist organisation’. This ruling constitutes a further assault by the Belarusian state on civil society actors in exile. It is an attempt to silence and hinder the work of a key institution in the liberal arts and social sciences. Academic freedom will thus be curtailed and international research partnerships obstructed.

With this move, the Belarusian state is aligning itself with Russia’s strategy of intimidating critical citizens living in exile, as well as the international research community, by labelling organisations based in other countries as ‘undesirable’ or ‘extremist’. ZOiS expresses its solidarity with the EHU, its students and staff.

The EHU is a private, non-profit university founded in Minsk in 1992. Following its forced closure by the Belarusian authorities in 2004, EHU relocated to Vilnius, Lithuania.