Moscow’s top university to ban political speech for students and staff

EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
Russian police officers stand guard at the city's landmark Red Square during a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, near the Kremlin during the national celebrations of the 'Defender of the Fatherland Day' in Moscow, Russia, 23 February 2017. Defender of the Fatherland Day is observed in most of Russia and former Soviet republics to commemorate the people serving in the Russian Armed Forces.

- Advertisement -

One of Russia’s elite universities, Moscow’s Institute of Higher Economics, is considering banning its students and staff from performing political speech.
“The new version of internal regulations clarifies the obligation not to make political statements or stances not only on behalf of the entire university, but also on behalf of a range of students and HSE employees”, the university said on its website.
The move is seen as one of the university’s many free speech-related scandals. The institute was involved in similar controversies in the past, with the cancellation of its student talk show after it invited an opposition activist and with the revoking of a student newspaper’s status over a critical article.
Russia’s government has constantly been criticised by human rights activists for its attempts to silence the opposition. However, the head of president Vladimir Putin’s human rights commission, Valery Fadeyev, said the changes “don’t limit freedom of speech”: “A university is a professional corporation. Any corporation has its own rules”, Fadeyev said.

- Advertisement -

Subscribe to our newsletter

Latest

On the two-year anniversary, G7 Foreign Ministers address the devastating war in Sudan

After nearly 23 months of war, on March 21,...

Doom, gloom or boom?

While it is an almost painful daily task to...

Don't miss

On the two-year anniversary, G7 Foreign Ministers address the devastating war in Sudan

After nearly 23 months of war, on March 21,...

Doom, gloom or boom?

While it is an almost painful daily task to...

Romania utilizing all available resources to boost its energy independence

Romania is using all energy resources available, including natural...

U.S. sanctions officials for undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy

The United States has imposed new sanctions on six Hong Kong and Chinese officials to punish China for the ongoing crackdown on democracy advocates...

Ignoring Russia, latest Trump administration Iran sanctions increase pressure on an old enemy

On March 13, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned (“designated” in OFAC language) Iran’s Minister of Petroleum, Mohsen...

Does the EU really stand for its basic values in the Balkans?

The visit of the EU Enlargement Commissioner Ms. Marta Kos to Albania on March 13-14 seems to have been another failed opportunity for the...

Weaning Europe off its Russian gas addiction

The Viking hero Ragnar Lodbrok once said “don't waste your time looking back. You're not going that way.” The words of the former king...

Tashkent’s busy diplomatic agenda

In the coming months, Uzbekistan will host high-profile summits between Central Asia with the European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council. As global geopolitics...

EU leaders in Kyiv back Ukraine, but Trump won’t blame Russia

On the three-year anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, European leaders travelled to Kyiv to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky and to declare their...

The dance begins: Rubio and Lavrov engage (alone) on Ukraine

Clearly working overtime to move the U.S.-Russia peace effort for Ukraine forward, both countries’ foreign ministers met on February 18 in Riyadh for the...

Global reaction to Trump tariffs only reinforces his use of this tired and risky strategy

True to form, U.S. President Donald Trump disrupted global markets with a three-day surge of tariff announcements, border security negotiations and ultimately a 30-day...