LMP, Socialists call on Orbán’s cabinet to stop ‘lying’ about CEU

Budapest, May 24 (MTI) – The opposition LMP and Socialist parties on Wednesday called on the government to stop “lying” about the Central European University in light of the recent position stated by the US government on the CEU.

The US State Department said on Tuesday that it had “no authority or intention to enter into negotiations on the operation of Central European University or other universities in Hungary”, and urged Hungary to suspend implementation of its amended higher education law.

The CEU, founded by US financier George Soros, said the new legislation would make its continued operation in Budapest impossible.

Bernadett Szél, the co-leader of LMP, said it had become clear from the State Department’s standpoint that the Hungarian government would be unable to fulfil requirements set by the law.

“It is time to stop the false propaganda and misleading the public,” Szel said in a statement. She called for the law’s withdrawal, saying this would be the only acceptable measure in response to the infringement procedure notification sent to the government by the European Commission.

The Socialists blamed the government for “lying and deceiving both the United States and the Hungarian public”.

The government has not made any contact at all with the State of New York where CEU is registered, lawmaker Ágnes Kunhalmi told a press conference.

“The ball now is in the government’s court since neither the US, nor the State of New York or the CEU can take any further action,” she said.

Photo: ceu.edu