Potential threats to the country – Meduza

Story by Alexey Slavin. Abridged translation by Sam Breazeale.

After Russia launched its full-scale war against Ukraine, the Czech Education Ministry announced that Russians and Belarusians who study in certain departments at Czech universities would be required to either leave the institutions or change their majors to ones considered safe by the Czech authorities. The agency cited EU sanctions against Russia and laws banning the provision of technical assistance to Russia, including by teaching students certain skills. Meduza looked at how this has affected Russian students and what options are left for Russians who want to study in the Czech Republic.

The European Commission's first measures aimed at lowering the amount of "technological support" supplied by EU member states to Russia came in 2014 in response to Russia's annexation of Crimea. The recommendations were just that; each country had the option to impose restrictions or not. Meanwhile, most of the binding sanctions passed then were against officials, defense companies, and government banks; the education sector was hardly affected at all.

But this year, things have begun to change. Soon after Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Czech Republic imposed a ban on issuing non-humanitarian visas and residency permits to Russian and Belarusian citizens. In April, Czech Education Minister Petr Gazdk announced that the Czech authorities believe Russian students studying in technical fields pose a threat to the countrys security.

In mid-May, the Czech Education Ministry published a list of recommendations for how to deal with students from EU-sanctioned countries. One of the proposals was for Czech universities to impose a limit on the number of students they accepted from Russia and Belarus. Another suggestion was to limit the number of spots for those students in unsafe departments.

Exactly which fields of study qualify as unsafe was determined by the countrys Financial Analytical Office (the agency responsible for ensuring Prague observes international sanctions). A task force was created within the agency to issue recommendations for how each government ministry should respond to sanctions.

According to the European Commission, teaching students skills in these fields falls under the ban on providing technological support to the Russian Federation. The Czech Education Ministry sent universities a guide that suggests transferring Russian and Belarusian students to safer courses of study ones that arent likely to give them access to information that could be used against the Czech Republic in the future.

The ministry gave each university the freedom to decide which subjects to ban for the students and what to replace them with. Some schools, however, categorized almost all of their majors as unsafe. According to Ksenia Lazarov, who works with foreign students at a support center in Prague, students who had passed the entrance exams for the Czech Technical University in Prague with perfect scores started receiving notifications that they had not been accepted, though they weren't told why.

We found this ban extremely strange. The guides expressly say that the restrictions are intended for students in masters and doctorate programs and that theres no need for them to be applied to bachelors programs, which dont contain any secret information that couldnt be found on the Internet or other open sources, she said.

According to Lazarov, the university suggested that students write statements of purpose explaining why it's important for them to stay in the Czech Republic and how they feel about Russias war against Ukraine. Having a document like that would allow [the university] to defend the students to the Education Ministry and the Interior Ministry," she said.

Some institutions offered to let students switch majors. One such school was the Brno University of Technology, which allowed all students who passed the entrance exams regardless of citizenship to enroll. University rector Ladislav Janek explained the decision this way: I understand that its vital to observe EU sanctions against Russia and Belarus. But it would be illogical to automatically transfer [the sanctions] to students who have already chosen the Czech Republic for their studies, and possibly for their future lives as well."

Radana Koudelova, the press secretary for the Brno University of Technology, told Meduza that in the universitys view, allowing Russian and Belarusian students to study critical topics such as cybersecurity, aviation, telecommunications, and microelectronics is tantamount to the intangible transfer of technology at wartime.

Current students with the exception of students in their final year were given the option to transfer to 'non-critical' courses of study. The majority of them took advantage of the opportunity. Students who refused were forced to end their studies [at this school], said Koudelova.

Meduza reached out to the Czech Technical Universitys press service, but had not heard back at the time of this articles publication.

Earlier this year, a Russian citizen named Alexander applied to Czech Technical University and was rejected. The schools transportation department, where he wanted to study, categorically refused to accept students from Russia. Alexander told Meduza that a number of Russian and Belarusian students currently studying at the university signed a document in which they promised not to use the knowledge they gain there outside of the EU. Alexander himself decided to write a letter explaining that he doesnt support the war in Ukraine.

In the rejection letter, [university representatives] listed all of Russias sins, including the annexation of Crimea. I was 15 years old when that happened. I wrote in my letter that I started attending protests in 2017, and that I was even arrested a few times; I had to await my trials in a special detention facility. I also described in detail why I want to study at VUT specifically and told the story of how I prepared to apply. I also mentioned that I worked as a volunteer at a humanitarian aid center for Ukrainian refugees in Prague.

In order to stay in Russia, I applied to the construction department at the Brno University of Technology, which hasnt imposed sanctions against students, said Alexander.

Later, though, his first choice school responded to his letter. On August 23, I received a letter from the Czech Technical University that on the basis of a decision made by the rector, they would allow me to enroll, he said.

Ksenia Lazarov told Meduza that the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague is another university thats cracked down on Russian and Belarusian students. This year, she said, they rejected about 200 applicants from Russia and Belarus.

One of those applicants was Anna Smirnova, a 19-year-old from the town of Ukhta in Russias Komi Republic. Immediately after high school, unable to imagine a future for herself in Russia, she moved to Prague, where she took language classes and prepared to apply to universities. In June, Anna earned 86 points (16 more than necessary) on the entrance exam for the Czech University of Life Sciences Pragues genetic engineering department.

According to Anna, when she took the test, nobody mentioned anything about the university refusing to accept Russian or Belarusian students. The new rule was announced on June 30. Several days after Annas exam results were posted on the universitys site, she learned that she wouldnt be admitted for other reasons.

Anna received her official rejection letter several weeks later (Meduza has obtained a copy of the letter). The universitys administration cited three government decrees: one from 2006, one from 2014, and one from 2022. The documents mention Russias annexation of Crimea, Russias attack on Ukraine, and Belaruss disregard for democratic principles, as well as demanding a restriction on trade relations and an end to technological assistance. One of Annas classmates, a girl from Kazakhstan, however, was accepted with no issues. The Czech University of Life Sciences Prague did not respond to Meduzas request for comment.

Im currently located in the Czech Republic, where Im applying to other universities so that I can stay here. Im still waiting for an answer. We werent told that we wouldnt be admitted [to the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague] until really late, and its already too late to get into a normal university. I applied to the natural science department at UJEP [Jan Evangelista Purkyn University], but I wont hear back until early September at the earliest. Im currently stuck in limbo; I dont know whether Ill be able to stay here or not, said Smirnova.

Stanislav Keek, the Czech Republics human rights ombudsman, has been a strong advocate for Russian and Belarusian students, claiming the new rules contradict existing European legislation: according to a regulation from the European Parliament and the Council of Europe, foreigners have the right to receive residency permits or student visas if the characteristics and purpose of their stay in the EU meet the documents' requirements. The ombudsman has suggested adding students to a list of exceptions for repressed citizens and resuming the issuance of student visas. The Czech Interior Minister, however, has said he believes Prague needs to continue imposing severe restrictions against Russia.

Belarusians and Russians who are trying to apply to Czech universities remotely are perhaps in the most difficult situation of all. Even when Czech universities accept their applicants documents, Czech consulates are not issuing the prospective students visas. The Czech Republic imposed limits of Russians and Belarusians immediately after the start of the war on February 28.

The Education Ministry believes that theres no guarantee that people who enter under these visas wont carry a potential threat to the country. This rhetoric appeared in the Czech Republic at the very start of the war, said Anton Vaykhel, who heads a support center for foreigners in the Czech Republic.

Applicants who passed the entrance exams between April and June and were supposed to be able to come to the Czech Republic by the start of the academic year will now be unable to. They spent time and money on their preparations. So the ones who are located in Russia are suffering most of all, said Vaykhel.

In his opinion, these kinds of restrictions are ineffective and, in some cases, even harmful: young people who have successfully gone through the procedures necessary to enroll in Czech universities but are not allowed to enter the country because of visa restrictions will automatically lose their army deferment.

Were trying to fight this; weve been writing to the [Czech] Interior Ministry and trying to get in touch with ministers and journalists on social media. But so far, the authorities are still saying that their top priority is to help Ukraine and protect their own citizens, said Vaykhel. To be honest, at the moment, it feels like tilting at windmills. Its very difficult to influence the views that have taken root [about Russians in the Czech Republic].

Story by Alexey Slavin.

Abridged translation by Sam Breazeale.

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Potential threats to the country - Meduza