Russians Close European University in St. Pete

(St. Petersburg, Russia) The government has closed one of the St. Petersburg's leading independent universities for "fire-safety violations." Heh, just writing that sentence makes me chortle.

The European University at St. Petersburg, a private institution founded in 1994 that receives funding from Western foundations, received a court order to close last Thursday after fire-safety inspectors uncovered violations in January.

"Classes have completely stopped," university president Nikolai Vakhtin said by telephone Monday.

Vakhtin said he had no reason to believe that the shutdown had political motives, but opposition activists call it payback for the university's research into Russian politics.

"This is a political decision," said Maxim Reznik, head of the St. Petersburg branch of the liberal Yabloko party. "That is perfectly obvious. The fire-safety violations are just an excuse."

Despite the stated reason, the school has been worrisome to political functionaries for some time. Last year, it was accused of violating its charter by participating in overt political activities. And then the university raised concerns within the Kremlin after receiving a European Union grant to conduct training for election observers.

Fire-safety violations or political snuffing, readers can make the call.