Orbán: Hungary aims to become global leader in education and research with investments in universities

Hungary, as “the westernmost Eastern people and the easternmost Western people”, wants to connect to all of the world’s economic power centres, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said at the inauguration of the renovated pavilion buildings of the University of Veterinary Medicine in Budapest on Tuesday.

“We’re making good progress on this, and this is something Hungarian universities will be big winners of,” the prime minister said.

Orbán said the world was on the verge of fundamental changes, arguing that the liberal world order had come to an end, and the winners of the new era would be those who fully realised their potential. But those who “fall in line” and “fail to recognise the strength in their national character”, he added, would quickly fade into irrelevance.

He said Hungary was preparing to set its role on the international stage on new foundations.

“We don’t want to follow the path carved out by others, but rather to make use of the advantages that stem from our own history, our own economic structure and our own culture,” Orbán said.

He said Hungarian animal science was world-renowned, adding that the University of Veterinary Medicine offered “perhaps the highest-quality education” in the country. He said it was the institution that made the most scientific discoveries and was among the world’s top 150 universities, “of which all Hungarians can be justly proud”.

Orbán said the university aimed to become one of the world’s top 50 such institutions, and the newly opened buildings and new research laboratories could help this plan succeed. Now the university has the proper background that will make it possible for students and researchers to perform above average also in terms of international publications and patent development, he added.