An Erasmus+ cooperation between the Institute of Social Sciences at Osnabrück University and the Yuri Fedkovych National University in Chernivtsi (Chernivtsi) in Ukraine has been in place since 2020. Prof. Andrea Lenschow, Vice President for International Affairs, Diversity and Academic Staff Development, and Prof. Ulrich Schneckener were in Bukovina, Ukraine, to mark the university's 150th anniversary. The university is the fifth oldest in Ukraine and was founded as Franz Joseph University in the easternmost crown land of the Habsburgs.
The celebrations began with a minute's silence: "Every second, pictures of university employees who died in the war in Ukraine were shown," reports Andrea Lenschow. There were so many of them alone. Plaques with names and dates of other war victims can be found throughout the city.
Chernivtsi is located in the west of Ukraine, close to the border with Romania. It was largely spared from Russian attacks. But on July 12 of this year, the city of 265,000 inhabitants was also hit by drones and missiles. Several people were killed and injured. "We didn't feel in any immediate danger," says the Osnabrück Vice President. Nevertheless, the war was a constant presence. While it was her first trip to Ukraine, Prof. Ulrich Schneckener had already visited the partner university several times. In October, 24 students from the subjects of politics, law and economics took part in his three-day block seminar "Linking Security and Enlargement in Times of War: The EU and Ukraine". "Especially under the current conditions, it is important to continue the cooperation with our Ukrainian colleagues, which is also an expression of solidarity for a country that has to defend itself against an aggressor," says Ulrich Schneckener.
13 Ukrainian students have come to Osnabrück from the partner faculty for a semester abroad since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression through the Erasmus+ cooperation that has been in place since 2020. A collaboration that is set to be intensified in the future: Because as part of the anniversary celebrations, a cooperation agreement has now also been signed between the law faculties of both universities.
Further information for editorial offices:
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schneckener, Osnabrück University
Institute of Social Sciences
E-mail: ulrich.schneckener@uni-osnabrueck.de
Prof. Dr. Jan Oster, Osnabrück University
School of Law
E-mail: ls-oster@uni-osnabrueck.de
