A proposal by a professor at Athens’ National Technical University (NTUA) to seek NATO funding has sparked controversy over a 25-year-old regulation prohibiting research financed by international military alliances.

The university’s internal regulations, drafted before NATO’s 1999 Yugoslavia bombing, ban research “for military purposes of any form” except for Greece’s defensive needs, and prohibit funding from international military alliances.

When the research committee proposed removing this restriction to allow the NATO-funded project, student groups organized protests. The Student Struggle Front called it an attempt to “fully liberate war research in direct cooperation with NATO itself.”

University Rector Ioannis Hatzigeorgiou argues the regulation is outdated, noting NATO provides student scholarships and that other institutions face no similar restrictions. “NTUA is denied access to significant resources,” he said, adding this harms the university’s international standing and research output.

Professor Emerita Tonia Moropoulou noted that since 1999, NATO-funded programs “serving peace purposes” have been approved and executed at the polytechnic university.

Source: Ekathimerini.com