Russians may have difficulty getting American scholarships

The changes are likely to affect two categories of applicants - employees of Russian state universities and officials. This story began with a Twitter post - Kevin Rothrock posted a response from Fulbright Russia Director Joel Erickson to one of the program's semifinalists.The letter says that employees of Russian educational institutions funded by the state will not be able to participate in the FLTA program in the next two years.Applicants must confirm that they are employed by private universities.

In a letter, Joel Erickson explains the reasons: in November 2019, Donald Trump signed a new memorandum.The documents state that participants in educational and cultural projects for officials and "employees of the state" will not receive funding from the United States.Four countries are listed whose citizens will be affected by the innovation.Russia, North Korea, Syria and Eritrea are states that do not comply with the Law on the Protection of Victims of Trafficking in Persons and Violence.

How did Russia get into this list?One of the main reasons is the "labor camps" for the citizens of North Korea, which allegedly operated on the territory of our country two years ago.The information was released in the State Department's 2018 report on human trafficking.Russia has not conducted its own investigation on this issue.

Joel Erickson commented on the situation The Bell .The head of Fulbright in Russia noted that the legal department of the American embassy will make a decision on this issue.The problem is that there is no consensus on which citizens can be classified as “hired employees of the state”. That is why the situation with those who work in state universities is not fully understood.