EHU at the Forefront of the Belarusian State’s Continuing Crackdown on Academic Freedom
Belarusian authorities continue their crackdown on academic freedom, targeting individuals associated with higher education institutions that are deemed to be “extremist organizations.”
One of those institutions is the European Humanities University (EHU). On October 7, 2026, Scholars at Risk (SAR) published a statement drawing attention to the continued subjection of Belarusian persons affiliated with the EHU, Lithuania, to persecution and prosecution in Belarus. SAR called on the Belarusian government to immediately cease its crackdown on the EHU, which not only violates the academic freedom of students and faculty affiliated with the institution, but also endangers their well-being and livelihood, as well as their family members’.
In April of 2026, in response to a 2025 petition by the prosecutor general, the Supreme Court of Belarus declared the European Humanities University (EHU) an “extremist organization,” criminalizing all association with the university.
EHU was founded in 1992 in the Belarusian capital of Minsk. Later, in 2004, it was forced to relocate to Lithuania when the government annulled its educational license. Following the recent ruling, all Belarusian students, faculty and staff associated with EHU abroad now face prison terms of up to seven years if they return to Belarus. The reasoning provided for EHU’s categorization as an “extremist organization”, was that it promotes alternative interpretations of issues such as Belarusian history and democratic values, criminalizing the very essence of academic inquiry in the humanities, and therefore is fundamentally antithetical to academic freedom.
The Viasna Human Rights Center, a Belarusian non-governmental human rights advocacy organization, found that, as of August 17, 2026, at least 110 EHU students and graduates have faced persecution by the Belarusian government. Furthermore, at least 65 family members of current students and graduates have been affected due to their affiliation with the EHU, having been subjected by security and intelligence officers to intimidation, interrogations, house searches, detention or threats of detention, and more. The family homes of several Belarusian students currently attending EHU were raided by the police, and their parents were told that sending money to their children would constitute terrorism financing. The students were given 10 days to unenroll and return to Belarus.
Endangered Scholars Worldwide echoes the calls of Scholars at Risk and other organizations committed to the protection of academic freedom worldwide for an immediate end to the Belarusian government’s prosecution of individuals affiliated with the EHU, as part of the government’s ongoing broader crackdown on academic freedom rights. We stand in solidarity with institutions such as the European Humanities University that are forced into exile for their pursuit of free academic inquiry. We invite the global community to join our call.
For more information regarding the state of academic freedom in Belarus, read our country profile on Belarus here.
