Norwegian Government Puts Research and Education Cooperation with Russia on Hold

“The responsibility for the grave situation in Europe lies with the Russian authorities and the attack on Ukraine  should also have consequences for research and education cooperation. Therefore we suspend all dialogue with Russian authorities and as a main rule, all institutional agreements between Norwegian and Russian education institutions are put on hold”, says Research and Higher Education Minister Ola Borten Moe (Center Party).

The Ministry of Education and its subdivisions suspend all dialogue with Russian authorities, the Norwegian Research Council’s joint announcements with Russia is put on hold, the Nrowegian-Russian education agreement is suspended, the ready-but-not-adopted-yet research agreement between Norway and Russia is put on hold, and as a main rule, all agreements between Norwegian and Russian institutions are paused. The institutions may chose to uphold agreements, however, there should be a thorough review in each case.

“Russian authorities have put the world in a very grave situation and that requires reactions. At the same time, we want the sanctions to the highest degree possible to be aimed at Russian authorities and not the civilian community. Academia may be an important counterweight against authorities in Russia too. Therefore, we grant Norwegian universities, university colleges and research institutes a small opening for continuing cooperation for which there is a professional justification”, Borten Moe says.