Georgian Education Ministry echoed the German Ambassador, Peter Fischer’s statement that the German Education Ministry has frozen the upgrade of the German-Georgia, science co-op, including student mobility, research and Georgia in EU programs.
Georgian Ministry emphasised that exchange programs and research initiatives between Georgian and German higher education and research institutes are “not under threat.”
“The statement does not explicitly apply to exchange programs for students, researchers and academic staff, joint research projects and scholarship programs. As Peter Fischer himself notes, the statement does not apply to the DAAD program either. The statement refers to future cooperation between our Ministres, regarding which only preparatory work was underway.
The above-mentioned activities are carried out based on agreements concluded between the aforementioned entities. Cooperation is based on academic freedom and institutional autonomy, which are fundamental principles of the Bologna Process and the European Higher Education Area. We have remained committed to these values for 20 years.
Obviously, this remark made by the German Minister of Education and Research on the final day of his tenure serves just one political purpose: to inject dissonance into Georgian-German scientific, academic, and research collaboration and to sow confusion.
The German Ambassador cites a letter from the Federal Minister of Education and Research dated February 20. The letter was written two days before Germany’s federal elections, making it particularly notable.
As you are aware, the new conservative political group obtained a majority in the elections. The next government coalition is projected to consist of the Christian Democratic Party (CDU) and the Social Democrats (SPD).
Prior to the German elections, the Social Democrats and Greens formed a governing coalition. The Federal Minister of Education is from the Green Party and was appointed in November 2024. The party garnered barely 11% of the votes in the elections.
This information reveals the political purpose of the letter issued on the last working day before the elections: to harm bilateral relations between the two nations in the fields of education and research. Most crucial, to leave a tarnished legacy for the future ruling coalition,” the Ministry of Education stated in a statement.
