It seems almost completely certain that Hungarian higher education will be banned from the Erasmus and Horizon programmes as of next year, and thrown back to roughly where it was during Socialism. The reason is quite trivial: political control over the universities is more important for Fidesz than the interests of Hungarian students and researchers.

We have seen this one coming for quite a while. As soon as the first measures were taken to transform the operation of Hungarian universities, we could all see that the “market-based” model change had nothing to do with the market or competitiveness. Quite the contrary, it was much more important for the government to transfer the assets of Hungary’s higher education system to private foundations, the boards of which were then filled with (who else?) Fidesz ministers, MPs and Viktor Orbán’s current favourites.

Ignoring the months-long protests of students, teachers and the sensible public, the Fidesz steamroller crushed all contrary opinions the usual way. 

What they might not have considered is that the world has some bigger machines than the Fidesz steamroller…

The first shock came when the European Commission suggested that they might exclude Hungarian universities from the Erasmus and Horizon programmes, because they thought the presence of active politicians in university foundation boards poses several conflicts of interest. The first problem is that these politicians may exercise direct influence on the institutions, which would be a serious violation of the fundamental principles of academic freedom that were laid down as early as the 12th century. The second conflict comes from the fact that the universities’ applications for funding would be signed by the very same politicians who, in their other positions, would decide how to allocate those funds. 

Although Tibor Navracsics promised the stars and the moon to solve this problem, now we are at a point when it can’t be done unless the Hungarian Parliament adopts the bill and the European Commission reviews it at breakneck speed by September. 

The chances for that are minimal, because both the Hungarian Parliament and the European Commission are on holiday for the summer. As the former European Commissioner for Education, Navracsics was quite aware of this fact, but he still lied to the face of Hungarian youth and researchers – which comes as no surprise from the talking heads of the long-reigning Fidesz regime.

So what’s next?

For the year 2024, Hungarian students and researchers are no longer allowed to apply for the Erasmus and Horizon programmes, respectively. Furthermore, foreign students and researchers won’t come to our universities from the EU, either. Just imagine what kind of processes it will trigger at a time when a significant share of Hungarian secondary-school leavers already apply to foreign universities. Hungary’s higher education system will sink back to the Socialist times in several aspects, including that the spoiled brats of the corrupt third-world elite will be here instead of European students, and they will be welcome guests, too.

In return, the talented Hungarian youth will enrich the research results of other countries, and they are likely to stay there, too, after seeing the gaping difference between Orbán’s Hungary and the societies and career options in other European states. 

And how will Hungary’s government react to that? The same as always: they’ll keep lying and open recruitment offices abroad to bring people back.

Dear Mr Navracsics, dear Fidesz politicians, 

Hungarian youth are not stupid, please don’t take them for fools! Stop lying and withdraw from education affairs. Just turn your greed down a notch. If you don’t, you will destroy Hungary’s future, if you haven’t done so already. It’s as simple as that.

Disclaimer: the sole liability for the opinions stated rests with the author(s). These opinions do not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Parliament.