German universities and ministries of science should not realize Putin's goals of isolation.

The Russian war of aggression in Ukraine has led to calls for far-reaching sanctions to call into question scientific contacts with Russia.

After letters of protest from many university teachers, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) reversed its decision on March 1 to completely suspend academic exchange with Russia.

The DAAD recognizes that Russian scientists and students bear no general responsibility for the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.

But now the individual federal states and universities are pushing ahead.

On March 3, Sabine Doering-Manteuffel, Chairwoman of the Bavarian University Conference and President of the University of Augsburg, announced that all universities in Bavaria are ending cooperation with Russian and Belarusian partners.

In view of a war of aggression by Russia against Ukraine in violation of international law, it goes without saying that Russian and Belarusian state institutions should not be allowed to benefit from project funds and know-how from the Federal Republic of Germany and the Free State of Bavaria.

As a result of this decision, for example, my university, the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich, suspended all exchange programs with Russia.

Lower Saxony demands a strong signal

Bavaria is not alone in this attitude towards scientific exchange with Russia.

Lower Saxony's Minister of Science, Björn Thümler, has called on Lower Saxony's universities to do their part to send a strong signal against the questioning of the European peace order and to "put on hold" all university cooperations.

And European countries like Denmark have also ended scientific cooperation with Russia.

This is currently the subject of intense debate in France.

At first glance, these decisions appear to be correct.

But if you take a closer look and look at developments in the Russian higher education landscape, you will see that these decisions play into the hands of Putin and his followers.

As the last few years have shown, the Russian power elite has an interest in restricting scientific exchange and thus also exchange on the universal ideas of human rights and democracy.

Many Russian researchers fear that a ban on contacts abroad is only a matter of time.

Protests with open letters and on the streets

The increasing pressure corresponds to the crackdown on the international human rights organization Memorial, which was dissolved in Russia in December 2021.

The Russian universities founded after 1989, which maintain close ties with Western universities, have lost their earlier freedom in recent years.

Attacks on universities with a strong social sciences and humanities profile in Russia have also increased in recent months.

In October 2021, for example, the private Moscow University for Social and Economic Sciences is currently in the sights of the state authorities.

The rector of the university Sergei Zuyev was arrested.

In December 2021, the Higher School of Economics in Moscow got a new pro-rector for security issues appointed by Putin, who is an employee of the secret service.

Students and teachers have long been advised to refrain from making political statements.

Many university members do not follow these instructions.

They protest against the war in Ukraine with open letters and on the streets.

For students, the consequences can be serious.

They face de-registration for taking part in protests, which means far more for male students than just losing their place at university.

They can now be drafted and sent to the front in Ukraine.

Because of these worrying developments, it is important to keep the scientific channels to Russia open.

An Iron Curtain, to which German universities and science ministries are hastily knitting, will not bring us back to a European peace order,

In addition, by breaking off scientific relations with Russia across the board, we are giving up rights such as freedom of research and teaching, which not only allow us to choose research topics, but also to choose project partners and scientific cooperation.

Julia Herzberg teaches as a professor for the history of Russia and East-Central Europe in the pre-modern period at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich.