Hungarian & Polish Universities to Open Doors to International StudentsAffected by Russia-Ukraine War

International students enrolled at Ukrainian universities whose studies have been interrupted due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine may be able to resume their studies at universities in Hungary and Poland.

In a Twitter post, Head of Hungary’s Centre for Geopolitics, Attila Demkó, said that Hungary is offering international students who escaped Ukraine due to the war, including students from Nigeria and other African countries, to continue their studies at a Hungarian university.

“Hungary is offering foreign students who escaped UkraineRussianWar (India, Nigeria, other African countries) to continue their studies at Hungarian universities. All third-country refugees (mostly Africans) were accepted without problems and repatriated if they wished so,” Demkó tweeted.

Poland and Hungary have also expressed readiness to help Indian medical students in Ukraine to continue their studies there, adding that the latter can continue their education from where they left in Ukraine.

One of the leading universities of medicine and health sciences in Hungary, the Budapest Semmelweis University, said that it ready to admit medical students from Ukrainian universities to continue their studies for free until the conflict ends.

The university said it can also provide job opportunities to medical staff who were forced to leave Ukraine due to the developments there.

At the beginning of March, the rector of the Semmelweis University, Béla Merkely, said that 35 students from Ukraine arrived in college, with many of them starting studies immediately. As the situation in Ukraine continues to evolve, Merkely had said it is hard to tell the final number of students who will continue medical studies at Semmelweis University.

“In the current crisis we are ready to provide additional human resources when necessary to cope with the increased demand for our clinics’ healthcare services. Emergency situations can arise anytime – for example we have already treated a 40 weeks-pregnant woman who fled Ukraine on her own leaving her military-aged husband behind,” Merkely added.

Many students from Bangladesh, Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria, India, and Iran, who have been studying in Ukraine, are now accommodated at Semmelweis University dormitories.

The Polish government has also announced that students who have been studying medicine in Ukraine can continue education at a local medical college in Poland from the point they had to leave at their Ukrainian university.

Minister of State for Civil Aviation of India, Vijay Kumar Singh, said that universities in Poland will be opening doors to Indian students from Ukraine so the latter can finish their studies.

Some international students attempting to flee Ukraine amid the war have reported mistreatment at the border, pointing out that border officials are prioritizing Ukrainian nationals.