By Vestnik Kavkaza
In recent times, Russian-Dutch relations have become tense. Last weekend several armed people in camouflage gear broke in a flat of a Russian diplomat in Hague. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Russia “under an absolutely contrived pretext of child abuse “the guests' floored the minister counselor and beat him severely before his little children. Our diplomat was taken to the police station and kept there for whole night.” Some experts believe that the incident can be connected with the conflict on the ship of Arctic Sunrise. On September 18th the Russian frontier guards arrested the Greenpeace ship for violation of state borders. The Dutch authorities plan to file the suit against Russia which arrested their citizens – members of the environmental movement.
The developments are going on in the context of the Year of Russia in the Netherlands and the Year of the Netherlands in Russia.
Leading Russian universities have a particular interest in cooperation with Dutch universities. After all, it plays an important role in shaping the future of joint projects in the field of education and research in various fields. The interaction between Russia and the Netherlands develops most dynamically in the form of direct interaction between educational and research institutions of the two countries. Currently about 300 Russian students are studying in the Netherlands with the support of Dutch and international funds or on a commercial basis. Dutch students and graduates who study in Russian universities are partially financed by the federal budget.
According to Boris Zheleznov, Deputy Director of the International Department of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation “the year "Russia in the Netherlands, the Netherlands in Russia" made it possible to further develop this cooperation. I can note with full satisfaction that this cooperation initiative is supported not only by the Ministry, but it also emanates from the universities themselves, which are actively taking the initiative to independently conclude agreements. The role of the ministry here is to facilitate these agreements, as well as to promote on a legislative level the conditions for such cooperation. Starting September 1, Russia introduced a new law "On Education" and we hope that a number of provisions in this law will create better conditions for such cooperation, for the internationalization of education in Russia.”
According to Zheleznov, “there is still a disparity in student exchanges, as hundreds of Russian students, also through the efforts of NUFFIC, are studying in the Netherlands, but unfortunately only dozens of Dutch students are studying in Russian universities. We hope that in the future this number will increase in general, and parity will be achieved gradually.”
“The year 'Russia in the Netherlands, the Netherlands in Russia' has already led to the strengthening of our cooperation in the field of higher education, to new steps in this direction, to the promotion of research and innovation,” Ron Minnee, Director of the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Culture and Science of the Netherlands, says. “The first time we came here in November 2012, then in June 2013 when our Prime Minister was here, and also a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Skolkovo Institute and the University of Amsterdam on behalf of SURFnet in the Netherlands. This memorandum strengthened cooperation in the fields of large-scale research, innovation and the development of innovative technologies. If we are to talk about innovation, we are proud to say that we are opening up a working group in the framework of the joint working committee of the Netherlands and Russia. The Ministry of Education and Science of Russia helps us to achieve our goals, assists with the organization of scientific exchange between students and scientists of the two countries in order to promote innovation and collaboration.”
