“The government calls for the immediate cessation of contacts and cooperation with state institutions in Russia and Belarus. Furthermore, no new contacts or commitments should be initiated,” Minister for Education Anna Ekström said at the press conference.
“Universities, other higher education institutions and research funding bodies have a very important role to play in standing up for knowledge, for academic freedom, for democracy and for human rights, and showing solidarity with students, teachers and researchers in Ukraine,” Ekström continued.
At the same time, the Minister for Education emphasised the importance of assessing collaborations with individual researchers carefully.
“It is important not to automatically treat individual Russian and Belarusian researchers in the same way as state institutions.”