On February 28, 2023, a delegation of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine took part in an extraordinary meeting of the Committee of the Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region (Lisbon Recognition Convention), at which 31 countries party to the Lisbon Recognition Convention adopted a declaration in support of Ukraine.

The meeting was opened by UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education Stefania Giannini and Head of the Council of Europe’s Education Policy Division Villano Qiriazi, and chaired by President of the Lisbon Recognition Convention Committee Luca Lantero.

In response to the military aggression of the russian federation against Ukraine, Albania, Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, together with Ukraine, voted to restrict participation of representatives of the russian federation and the republic of belarus in meetings and other activities of the Lisbon Recognition Convention Committee, as well as to prevent their election to the governing and collegial bodies of the Committee.

“Given that the preamble of the Lisbon Convention defines the vital role of higher education in promoting peace, mutual understanding and tolerance, and in creating mutual confidence among peoples and nations, the participants of the meeting once again emphasized that aggressor countries had no place at the same table as the civilized world,” said Minister of Education and Science Serhii Shkarlet.