Moldova will become a fully-fledged member of the CEEPUS III Program (Central European Exchange Program for University Studies) starting with the 2011-2012 academic year. Such a decision was made at the 16th meeting of the Joint Committee of the Ministers of the CEEPUS Member States that took place in Budva, Montenegro, on March 25, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting a communique from the Ministry of Education. Moldova was represented at the meeting by the head of the Ministry's Higher Education Division Nadejda Velishko. When back home, Velishko said the Bologna Process' objectives for European higher education represent the given program's priorities. As part of this program, Moldova will be able to provide 100 monthly scholarships. The meeting's main objective was the signing of the CEEPUS III Agreement that extends the program for seven more years. CEEPUS III is expected to allow more flexibility and strengthen the links between science and technology, especially in the area of doctoral studies. Nadejda Velishko said the participation in CEEPUS III will contribute to the integration of the higher education systems of the member states in the European university and research area and will promote regional academic mobility as strategic instrument in implementing the Bologna Process. According to Minister of Education Leonid Bujor, the joining of the CEEPUS III Program is a great accomplishment as Moldova was invited to sign the agreement in 1999. “We want that the national diplomas be recognized abroad,” he said. The CEEPUS III Program will come into force after it is ratified by the Parliament of Moldova. The program brings together universities from Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Macedonia, Montenegro, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Serbia, Slovenia, and the University of Prishtina.