LMP: ‘Hounding CEU out of Hungary like book-burning’

The government is trying to hound the Central European University (CEU) out of Hungary, green opposition lawmaker Szabolcs Szabó said, likening the government’s alleged efforts to “book-burning”.

Szabó, who is sitting in the LMP parliamentary group, criticised the cabinet for not making its position clear about whether the operation of the CEU now fulfils all legal requirements or not.

Referring to Hungarian law that requires foreign universities to maintain a campus in their home country, he said a government delegation had assessed a campus which is home to the CEU’s educational activities in the US two months ago.

Plans in higher education need to be made for the long term, yet it is still unknown whether the CEU will be able to enroll students for the 2019-2020 academic year, Szabó said.

The government is setting these conditions because it wants CEU to leave Hungary, he insisted.

CEU said in May that it believes it is in “full compliance” with a new rule requiring foreign universities in Hungary to operate a campus in the country in which they are based.

Featured image: www.facebook.com/CentralEuropeanUniversity

Source: MTI