Estonian NGOs call to assist Belarusian youth

TALLINN, Apr 03, BNS 

Estonian nongovernmental associations and civil activists have called for support to help repressed Belarusian young people continue their education in Estonia as hundreds of students have been expelled from universities because of acts and remarks unacceptable to the Belarusian authoritarian regime.

A statement sent to the government, parliament and rectors of higher educational institutions urges the Estonian state and universities to speedily offer scholarships and places at universities in this country to those young people whom Alexander Lukashenko has banned from studying in their own country and who have been expelled from universities there.

Students have been expelled because of lighting candles on the night of the Belarusian Solidarity Day, participating in demonstrations and expressing opinions frowned on by the Lukashenko regime, the statement says.

"This way we shall help uphold hope for the birth of a democratic Belarus and thereby defend the survival of the ideals of freedom on the European continent," the NGOs say, adding that this is Estonia's chance to show its respect for European values, that is, democracy and human rights.

The statement has been signed by the Open Estonia Foundation, the European Movement of Estonia, associations of youth organizations and student self-government organizations, the youth association Avatud Vabariik (Open Republic), and 11 representatives of NGOs who monitored the recent presidential elections in Belarus.

Numerous European countries and institutions have already taken practical steps in support of Belarusian students. Poland, Lithuania, Sweden and Finland, as well as the Nordic Council of Ministers and the European Commission have responded in various ways.

As a nongovernment organization, the Open Estonia Foundation has arranged participation of representatives of Belarusian nonformal groups in events in Estonia and supports the studies of 13 Belarusian students in summer courses at Tartu University.

The March 19 presidential election in Belarus did not meet international standards, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has said.

Estonian observers who were in Minsk during the polls likewise said the elections were neither free nor fair. The Estonian Foreign Ministry and the parliamentary group for democratic development of Belarus have condemned the disregard for universally recognized democratic norms and human rights in Belarus.

Tallinn newsroom, +372 6 108 861, sise@bns.ee