On Thursday, 1 November, in the second and final reading the Saeima supported a draft law ratifying the Agreement between the governments of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania regarding the automatic recognition of academic qualifications concerning higher education.

The agreement aims to facilitate the mutual recognition of academic qualifications concerning higher education for academic purposes, as well as to promote information exchange among Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia about each country’s education system. The agreement applies to qualifications concerning higher education, which are listed in a comparability table attached to the agreement and issued after the agreement came into force. The annotation of the Law states that these qualifications will automatically, without any additional formalities, be recognised as comparable to qualifications of the same level issued in another Baltic State based on the comparability table.

The annotation also notes that it is expected that the agreement will promote academic mobility in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.

In 2017, there were 155 students in Latvia, who had obtained their previous academic degree in Lithuania and 74 – in Estonia. In turn, in the previous academic year 118 students originating from Latvia were studying in Estonia and 124 – in Lithuania.

Saeima Press Service