Efforts to further internationalise Estonian higher education face major obstacles because of?the Russia-Ukraine war, the country¡¯s education and research minister has said.

Speaking to?51³Ô¹Ï, Kristina Kallas described increased internationalisation as one of her ministry¡¯s central goals ¨C but Estonia¡¯s border with Russia has complicated that ambition, impacting the international student population and restricting financial resources.

In the 2024-2025 academic year there was a 10 per cent drop in Estonia¡¯s international student population, which currently makes up almost 9 per cent of the total student body. ?¡°We used to have quite a significant number of students from the Russian Federation studying in Estonia,¡± Kallas said; that number has??since Russia¡¯s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the subsequent imposition of sanctions against Russia,?including student visa restrictions.

¡°It¡¯s not only the Russian Federation students,¡± she added. ¡°Generally, international students are more cautious in coming to study in Estonia because of the war.¡±

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Ukraine is now the second largest sender of international students to Estonia, comprising 12 per cent of the overseas cohort. ¡°We have taken in a bigger proportion of Ukrainian students because for many of them, their own universities don¡¯t exist anymore ¨C they have been destroyed,¡± Kallas said. Finland is now in first place, at 16 per cent, while India and Russia make up 5 per cent each.

Asked how Estonia aims to reverse the downwards trend in overseas recruitment, Kallas said, ¡°Higher education has internationalised extremely fast over the last 30 years. We will continue focusing on the quality of higher education¡­rather than on the quantity.¡±

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¡°We are a small country, so providing good quality higher education is something that keeps our own students in Estonia and not going to the other countries to study, but also attracts international students,¡± the minister said.

Estonia has been making waves in international education in recent years, mostly?because of its strong performance in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development¡¯s programme for international student assessment (Pisa) and its pioneering approach to AI in schools.

Whether it can replicate such success in higher education and research depends on funding and Kallas said her government does intend to invest more, but the Russia-Ukraine war has left its mark there, too. Although a 15 per cent increase in the latest higher education budget was planned, that increase was subsequently reduced to 11 per cent, with defence spending seen as a greater priority.

¡°Next year, we will still invest more into higher education,¡± Kallas said. ¡°But then we¡¯ll see a challenge in 2027, because currently we don¡¯t have money for a further increase.¡± Future planning is difficult, she added: ¡°We can¡¯t say today what kind of global geopolitical situation we will have in 2027, whether we will have to continue military spending or whether we can hopefully release some of the public funds from military defence to other sectors. It¡¯s a very unpredictable world, currently.¡±

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Increased investment, Kallas told?THE, has been crucial to Estonia¡¯s growing success in Horizon Europe, the European Union¡¯s framework funding programme, under which it is currently categorised as a ¡°widening country¡± in a scheme aimed at increasing participation. That investment ¡°has significantly increased the level of research that we¡¯re doing, so we¡¯re very satisfied and happy with our results.¡± Estonia is currently in a transition stage, she added, ¡°from widening to the main core [of Horizon Europe]¡±.

Looking towards?the next framework funding programme, known as FP10, Kallas said, ¡°We would like to see a widening approach continue, because there is a need to close the gap between the widening countries and the rest of the member states.¡±

EU funding received through the widening participation initiative, however, should be tied to national investment, she believes. ¡°National governments should not have the right to replace their own national funding by telling research teams to go and get money from [Horizon Europe],¡± Kallas said. ¡°We want some redesign of the widening scheme to force national governments to keep up their investment into research and development.¡±

?emily.dixon@timeshighereducation.com