{"id":534263,"date":"2026-04-16T17:27:47","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T14:27:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reform.news\/?p=534263"},"modified":"2026-04-16T19:46:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T16:46:27","slug":"lithuania-rejects-belarusian-decision-on-ehu-and-warns-of-further-strain-in-bilateral-relations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/lithuania-rejects-belarusian-decision-on-ehu-and-warns-of-further-strain-in-bilateral-relations","title":{"rendered":"Lithuania Rejects Belarusian Decision on EHU and Warns of Further Strain in Bilateral Relations"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"fb-root\"><\/div>\n<p>Lithuania has expressed strong protest to Belarus over the decision by Belarusian authorities to designate the European Humanities University, which has legally operated in Lithuania since 2004, as an \u201cextremist organization.\u201d The corresponding statement was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.urm.lt\/naujienos\/141\/lietuva-grieztai-protestuoja-pries-baltarusijos-sprendima-ehu-paskelbti-ekstremistine-organizacija:45837\">published<\/a> by the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.<\/p>\n<p>The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry described the decision as <em>&#8220;politically motivated, unfounded, and in violation of international law principles and the sovereignty of the Republic of Lithuania&#8221;<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;This is an unprecedented case in which a higher education institution legally operating in another country is declared an \u2018extremist organization\u2019&#8221;<\/em>, the ministry stressed.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Lithuanian side, the Belarusian authorities\u2019 decision creates a direct threat to EHU students and faculty, criminalizes international academic cooperation, and causes serious harm to democratic society and Belarus\u2019s future.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;Lithuania does not recognize any legal force of this decision on its territory, demands its immediate reversal, and warns that such actions will further complicate relations between Lithuania and Belarus. They will also be considered at both the national level and the European Union level for possible further political and diplomatic measures&#8221;<\/em>, the ministry said.<\/p>\n<p>Recall that earlier this week, Belarus\u2019s Supreme Court designated the European Humanities University in Vilnius and its structural units as an \u201cextremist organization.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Belarus\u2019s Prosecutor General\u2019s Office claimed that EHU is directed by foreign states and foundations and that the university\u2019s activities are allegedly aimed at <em>\u201cdestabilizing the socio-political situation\u201d<\/em> in Belarus.<\/p>\n<p>The Prosecutor General\u2019s Office also claims that the university prepares Belarusian youth <em>\u201cto implement Western scenarios for transforming the political system, promoting so-called democratic values, and \u2018alternative\u2019 interpretations of historical, cultural, and other events\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lithuania has expressed strong protest to Belarus over the decision by Belarusian authorities to designate the European Humanities University, which has legally operated in Lithuania since 2004, as an \u201cextremist organization.\u201d The corresponding statement was published by the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry described the decision as &#8220;politically motivated, unfounded, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":492740,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sharing_image":{"poster":"https:\/\/reform.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/69e1126725992.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"template":"691142dd","mode":"auto"},"_sharing_image_fieldset":{"dTVKfmI95PYT":"Lithuania Rejects Belarusian Decision on EHU and Warns of Further Strain in Bilateral Relations"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[142339,142338,143090],"tags":[143118],"class_list":["post-534263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-main","category-news","category-politics","tag-belarus"],"wps_subtitle":"","permalink_manager":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/119"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=534263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534263\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/492740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=534263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=534263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=534263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}