The subject of the meeting was an offer of cooperation by the Office of Svyatlana Cichanouska and recognized representatives of the Belarusian community in the Czech Republic in the matter of assistance to existing and future Belarusian students and students of the Czech Technical University due to the ban on providing technical assistance and other measures in connection with the wartime situation in Ukraine.
One of the agreed forms of cooperation will be testimonials from official representatives of the Belarusian national minority confirming that a given student is a person who shares the humanist and democratic values of the European community. Students with Belarusian citizenship who are affected by the measures in question and who are interested in such testimonials can contact Alena Kovářová Cichanovič and Mgr. et Mgr. Kryscina Šyanok.
The Belarusian side was assured that the Czech Technical University will ensure that a blanket approach to the application of the above-mentioned measures is not applied to Belarusians women and men and that each case is assessed individually. The university will also ensure that there is no discrimination against Belarusian students on the grounds of their nationality or citizenship of Belarus.
During the meeting, the possibility of institutional assessment of the education level of applicants for study at the Czech Technical University acquired in Belarus was also discussed with regard to the complications that holders of Belarusian high school diplomas and university diplomas have recently encountered (inability to obtain confirmation of the extent of study, bureaucratic delays, etc.).
In conclusion, it was said that the studies of Belarusians at the oldest technical university in Europe have an ancient tradition. In the years 1920-1930, an estimated 150 to 200 Belarusian students studied at the Czech Technical University. Since then, the university has always had an open door for applicants for studies from Belarus, and after the post-election protests in Belarus in 2020, it was among the first to engage in helping the persecuted students, which it intends to continue doing.
source: Press statement by BLČR