The decision to keep the Baltic and Ukrainian studies at the Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald is due to the agreement reached by the Federal Foreign Office and the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Land Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
"We need expert knowledge and regional competence in Germany more than ever before, especially in view of the crises in our immediate neighbourhood. I am firmly convinced that we will only be able to find viable foreign policy solutions by trying to see the world through others' eyes, learning to understand their dreams and traumas better and expanding our horizons," Steinmeier said in a press release issued by the German Foreign Ministry.
"This applies all the more to cultural regions in eastern Europe that have, until now, enjoyed far too little attention. I am therefore even more delighted that we have managed to secure the future of Ukrainian and Baltic studies at the University of Greifswald for the coming years," the German minister said in the letter.
According to the press release, the Federal Foreign Office and Land Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania have therefore agreed to retain a separate chair for Ukrainian studies at the University of Greifswald on a permanent basis. Moreover, an academic qualification position will be created at the institute for Baltic studies.
The ministry said thee costs for the next ten years of around 1.6 million euros would be shared by the Federal Foreign Office, Land Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and the University of Greifswald.
Established in 1993, the Institute of Baltic Studies currently has a staff of five employees and one research fellow.
