EU launches mobility program for Belarusian professionals

The European Union has launched a €5-million mobility program that will give Belarusian professionals access to short-term training in its member states.

The program, titled MOST, was presented by Andrea Wiktorin, head of the EU Delegation to Belarus, in Minsk on September 18.

A total of 1,500 Belarusians can use the program until December 2017.

MOST encourages applications from core sectors, such as culture, education and youth, science and technology, but applications from other sectors, including public health, energy, public administration, tourism, mass media, and economy are "also welcome."

Under the program, groups of two to five participants may stay in the EU for up to seven days, while individual participants may be offered internships or placements with EU companies and organizations for up to 28 days.

Ms. Wiktorin said that the program had been developed after lengthy talks. She expressed gratitude to EU embassies in Belarus for supporting MOST and planning to facilitate visa formalities for participants.

Speaking at the news conference, Aleh Shloma, a departmental head at the Belarusian foreign ministry, said that Minsk supported "everything that helps normalize relations between Belarus and the EU." The foreign ministry is the program's national coordinator.

The program will help Belarusian professionals obtain more experience and improve their skills, he said.

MOST will be implemented by a consortium consisting of Minsk-based Goethe-Institut and British Council in Poland, and supervised by a Steering Committee consisting of the EU Delegation to Belarus and the Belarusian foreign ministry.