Acting Vice-Rector for Teaching, Student Affairs and Quality at the University of Banja Luka (UNIBL), Prof. Milica Balaban, PhD, participated on September 3, 2026, in a meeting of the Working Group for the development of cooperation between the Republic of Srpska and St. Petersburg, held at the Administrative Center of the Government of the Republic of Srpska in East Sarajevo.
The meeting focused on improving the existing “Cooperation Roadmap” and exploring opportunities to expand it in the coming period. Particular attention was paid to planning joint activities and events for 2027, when the 20th anniversary of the establishment of cooperation between St. Petersburg and the Republic of Srpska will be marked.
Prof. Balaban presented the University of Banja Luka’s proposals for further strengthening cooperation with universities and research institutions in St. Petersburg. One priority is developing cooperation in the digitalization of higher education, particularly in learning management systems.
In addition, the participants proposed deepening the existing cooperation in medicine and biomedical research, as well as creating opportunities for joint activities in other scientific fields.
“Key areas for future joint activities also include the development of new technologies and materials, environmental protection, and continued cooperation in the social sciences and humanities, with particular emphasis on the Serbian and Russian languages,” Prof. Balaban said.
According to Prof. Balaban, the University of Banja Luka’s participation in the Working Group is a continuation of its efforts to further strengthen existing cooperation with higher education and research institutions in St. Petersburg and to channel it toward concrete joint projects.
The meeting also addressed ways to improve academic mobility and the exchange of students, researchers and professors, which should contribute to establishing new partnerships and joint educational, research and scientific activities.
The Minister for European Integration and International Cooperation of the Republic of Srpska, Zlatan Klokić, and Ambassador of Russia to Bosnia and Herzegovina Igor Kalabukhov, who attended the event, assessed that the meeting was another demonstration of the strong and strategic relations between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Srpska.
Olga Androsova, Deputy Chair of the St. Petersburg Committee for External Relations, who led the Russian city’s delegation, expressed her satisfaction with the visit to the Republic of Srpska and noted that a number of areas with potential for expanded cooperation, including youth policy, had been discussed during the visit.
“At the meeting, we discussed promising areas of cooperation and a roadmap for the 2027–2029 period. Our cooperation covers a number of areas, including education, higher education, sports and culture,” Androsova said.
