higher education law

European Union to strip Hungary of voting rights?

Viktor Orbán Ursula von der Leyen EU

The Council of the European Union is once again planning another hearing about the state of the rule of law in Hungary, in connection with the article 7 procession. Currently, Sweden leads the presidency of the Council since January.

The member states are yet to approve of the hearing. However, according to insider sources, they will not resist. The article 7 procession began all the way back in September 2018, when the European Parliament adopted the Sargentini report, writes Népszava.

Article 7 procedure

Back in 2018, a committee made of members of the European Parliament forwarded a report to the legislative body. They claimed that Hungary breached several founding values of the European Union. Consequently, the country’s voting rights should be possibly temporarily revoked until the situation is remedied.

Since the adoption of the report, no specific steps have been taken. Members of the Council of the EU from time to time organise hearings to see how things are developing. The next significant move would be the articulation of direct measures Hungary should take to end the procession.

The European Parliament made requests for action many times, but to no avail. In a modified issue of the report created last year, the EP called Hungary a hybrid regime, an electoral autocracy.

Rule of law procedure

Another ongoing process against Hungary by EU bodies is the rule of law conditionality mechanism, started in 2020. This procedure is used to determine whether European funds are at risk in the country, due to institutional and/or legal deficits, corruption, etc. If the answer is yes, then that member state is stripped of further EU funding until the necessary steps are made to guarantee the proper use of common funds.

This mechanism is currently in utilisiation against Hungary. However, there is now active cooperation between the EU bodies and the national government to free up the withheld funds. Next week, for example, Commissioner Johannes Hahn, responsible for the EU budget, will be meeting with PM Viktor Orbán to negotiate about further reforms.

Ongoing negotiations

There are two greater issues at hand right now. One is about the independence of courts, the other one is about the independence of institutions of higher education. If Hungary was to remedy the concerns the EU has about judicial independence, EUR 13 million of the frozen funds would become available to use. Judicial issues are one of the 27 topics that the Commission pointed out, which are in need of reform. Upon the completion of these demands, Hungary would gain access to the RRF funds.

Another issue at hand is Hungarian students’ access to the Erasmus and Horizon programs. The majority of country’s universities lost access to apply to these funds, as the EU saw the risk of corruption. This is because the leadership board of these institutions included ministers and other governmental representatives. Hahn warned that if Budapest does not take the necessary steps to rule out possible conflicts of interest by 1 May, students at the involved universities would lose out on these educational programs.

Minister of Justice, Judit Varga has announced on Thursday, that the Commission gave green for the planned judicial reform. Commissioner Hahn is also optimistic about his meeting with the prime minister.

“I have no doubts, an agreement will be reached between the European Union and Budapest,”

he said.

Read also:

Renowned US stage director supports Hungarian FreeSZFE initiative

freeszfe demo

National Theatre director Attila Vidnyánszky said on Saturday that he was ready for a dialogue with renowned US stage director Robert Wilson who had published a letter and offered half of his artist fee received from Hungary’s MITEM Festival to the FreeSZFE initiative.

A stage production by Wilson is included in the international theatre festival’s programme but Wilson had cancelled his personal attendance at the event citing health issues.

Vidnyánszky, who is the director of the MITEM Festival and also heads the new supervisory board appointed at the SZFE Budapest University of Theatre and Film Arts by the government, said that Wilson’s statement was also an indication that they shared an interest in issues of public life and society. The diversity of opinions is crucial for discussing such issues and the publication of Wilson’s letter is also proof that he is free to express his opinion in Hungary, Vidnyánszky said.

Attila Vidnyánszky MITEM SZFE
Photo: MTI/Soós Lajos

He said at the same time, that Wilson’s letter showed that he had been informed in a one-sided way. Vidnyánszky added that he was ready for a dialogue with the renowned US director.

New world ranking: 5 Hungarian universities listed among the top ones!

Did you know? – Women can attend universities in Hungary for over 125 years

Wilson said in his statement dated September 17 that while he was happy that his work could be seen by the people of Budapest, he would donate half of his artist fee, received from the National MITEM Festival to the FreeSZFE initiative.

Robert Eilson Theatre Director
Photo: facebook.com/RobertWilsonNY/

“It is with much regret and sorrow that I have been watching the freedom of artistic expression and education be restricted by the current national government of Hungary,” he said.

“The so-called ‘model change’ at the SZFE University, which was carried out last year, was an undemocratic attack on the University’s autonomy,” he added.

Wilson also said that he would join a conversation with FreeSZFE students in the coming weeks.

One-third of students never finish higher education in Hungary?

bme_university_budapest_hungary_kató_alpár_dnh

The Hungarian Office of Education has recently published a study about the dropout rate in Hungarian higher education institutions. Unfortunately, the numbers are not as promising as they should be. There are several reasons behind it, but in the end, approximately one-third of students terminate their studies before finishing.

The study of the Hungarian Office of Education can be downloaded from the website of Felvi.hu. The study analyses the different reasons behind the premature termination of the studies of such a high number of students as well as compares the data of different fields and even institutions.

According to Magyar Nemzet, the two most common reasons for cancelling their student status are failure to comply with the requirements and terminating the contract by the students’ own volition. There is not much difference in the exact numbers of the two reasons.

Although it is not prevalent, in some cases, the reason behind the dropout can be the inability to finance the tuition fees.

Let us move on to the different faculties and institutions. More than one-third (36-39%) of the attendees of the three-year Bachelor’s training programs never even get the final certificate (absolutorium), and only slightly more than just 50% of students acquire at least the final certificate. The most prevalent student dropout is in the fields of IT, engineering, and natural sciences, while typically, programs in art and education have a lower dropout rate.

“With state sciences and health sciences, young people interrupt their studies mainly of their own volition, while students of humanities and computer science usually do not meet the requirements, and too many passive semesters in undergraduate and sports sciences are usually the reason behind failing.”

In the fields of IT and Physics, the dropout rate is among the highest, reaching even 50-65%, which is quite shocking. Also, the method of education matters, as more people drop out of distance learning than full-time programs. Men are also more likely to drop out than women, but this is not everything. The study has also found that where the average age of the instructor team is younger, fewer students drop out, and they tend to be more successful.

Art faculties have a lower, about 20% dropout rate, and the numbers are similar for five-year undivided programmes as well.

This is not everything as there are huge discrepancies between universities. Most dropouts were registered at the Pécs and Győr Universities, but one of the most famous Hungarian universities, Eötvös Loránd University, also has numbers below the national statistics.

Fudan University School Egyetem Iskola
Read alsoFudan University, one of the world’s best, to build a campus in Budapest by 2024

Mayor: Budapest would happily welcome the CEU and its students and teachers back – Reactions

CEU
Provisions in Hungary’s law on higher education that affect how foreign universities operate in the country breach EU law, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on today.

CEU head

CEU head Michael Ignatieff hailed the ECJ ruling as a major moral and legal victory for academic freedom. At a press conference held in Vienna, he said that a benchmark decision had been passed to reinforce legal protection for Europe’s free institutions. He welcomed that the ruling annulled Hungary’s “lex CEU” and restored the CEU’s freedoms. He added, however, that

the university would maintain its campus in Vienna, while plans concerning Budapest were yet to be finalised.

Socialists

István Hiller, Socialist deputy speaker of parliament, said he did not expect the ruling to change the situation, adding that “the government will stick to its point”. He said that a political decision had led to the contested legislation, and argued that

“the problem was not with the performance of the CEU but with the fact that it had been founded by George Soros”.

He insisted that issues around the university could only be resolved through a “political change”.

Budapest Mayor

Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony said

the city would “happily” welcome the university and its students and teachers back.

“Today the European Court of Justice ruled that lex CEU breaches EU law and that it’s simply unacceptable in Europe,” Karácsony said on Facebook. “I am under no illusion as to whether the government will repent and invite CEU back but Budapest would happily welcome the university, its teachers and students back.”

Driving away the country’s most internationally renowned university was “one of the most outrageous government decisions of the last ten years”, the mayor said.

“The university’s move to Vienna made both the country and Budapest poorer and the capital’s previous leadership silently played along,” Karácsony said. “The government considered its deceitful propaganda more important than education and respecting academic freedom.”

CEU
Read alsoHungarian universities among the best in the world – CEU ranks the 41st! – Check out here!

ECJ: Hungarian law on higher education breaches EU law – UPDATE

CEU, building, architecture

Provisions in Hungary’s law on higher education that affect how foreign universities operate in the country breach EU law, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on Tuesday.

Hungary’s parliament amended the country’s law on higher education in 2017, obliging foreign universities that issue their own degrees in Hungary to carry out educational activities in their home countries, while also making their operations dependent on a bilateral agreement between the Hungarian government and the country in which the universities are based.

Later that year, the European Commission launched an infringement procedure against Hungary, saying the new regulations violated EU laws.

In its ruling, the court said the regulations unnecessarily curbed the institutes’ freedom of establishment and the free movement of services.

ceu bavaria agreement
Read alsoCEU signs cooperation pact with German university TUM

In its ruling, the court said the regulations unnecessarily curbed the institutions’ freedom of establishment and the free movement of services.

Justice Minister Judit Varga said in reaction to the ruling that

“applying double standards is unacceptable”, arguing that each university must observe effective regulations. Referring to the Central European University (CEU) founded by financier George Soros, which moved the bulk of its teaching to Vienna after the law was enacted, she said: “It is not possible to pass legislation which would benefit the Soros university more than Hungarian universities.”

Varga added, however, that the Hungarian government would, as always, abide by the court’s ruling.

The minister also said that “a dozen” foreign universities in Hungary were governed by the contested legislation, adding that “most of them had no problem” meeting its stipulations.

“Budapest University” – universities of Budapest to be united into one institution?!

In 2014, after the formation of Viktor Orbán’s third government, László Palkovics became responsible for higher education management. At that time, the unification of certain Budapest universities was already planned. Accordingly – Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) and Semmelweis University were to become united into one institution; integrated according to the different fields – medical, engineering, humanities and social sciences, economics and agricultural faculties.

The University of London was set as the role model. As Figyelő described,

The main goal was to make the performance of Hungarian higher education visible on the international market, and at least one Hungarian university to be listed among the world’s best 200 educational institutions.

In order to realize it, the government considered unification as the best solution; however, nothing happened at that time. One year later – 1st September – the issue turned up again.

According to the Hungarian news portal 24.hu, directors of university faculties have been already informed about the suggestion; however, they are opposed to the idea as it would result in the termination of individual faculties. By way of example – humanities, social sciences, pedagogy and psychology would be joined together; however, ELTE operates three different faculties at these fields. So certainly fewer pedagogues would be needed in these areas; additionally, it would result in the devaluation of humanities as well.

Some news reported that the idea of “Budapest University” is so advanced, that its rector has already been appointed – László Borhy archaeologist, current rector of ELTE University.

UPDATE

On Monday afternoon, ELTE University issued a notice in which it has been clarified that –

“Recently, ELTE is not negotiating with anyone about the unification plan of Budapest universities”.  It was also added that – “Regarding this question, László Borhy, rector of ELTE University did not get any request from the government.”

The Ministry of Innovation and Technology emphasised that

“The government’s plans concerning higher education are accessible on the government website, in which unification or institutional closures are not included.”

However, “cooperation between national and international universities is of great importance, which is being developed currently.”

Last Thursday, Prime Minister announced the establishment of the Association of European Universities with the involvement of five Hungarian universities. Its goal is to “create new, world-class, international higher education institutions” as “it enhances the involvement of Hungarian higher education in European research and innovation, which is vital to increase its competitiveness.”

CEU signs cooperation pact with German university TUM

ceu bavaria agreement

The Technical University of Munich (TUM) and Central European University (CEU), located in Budapest, signed a cooperation agreement on Tuesday, CEU announced on its website.

The agreement was signed by President Prof. Herrmann, leading a delegation from TUM to CEU, and CEU Rector Michael Ignatieff.

“The parties understand that the offer of the Bavarian government to support TUM’s engagement in Budapest is conditional on the ability of CEU to operate freely as a US-degree granting institution in Hungary,” the announcement said.

“In this light, both parties call on the Hungarian government to provide CEU with the legal guarantees that would make it possible to inaugurate this new chapter in Hungarian and Bavarian academic and scientific cooperation,” CEU added.

CEU Deputy Rector Zsolt Enyedi said Bavaria and German carmaker BMW both provided significant financial support to CEU and hoped that this would entice the Hungarian government to recognise CEU as a US-degree granting higher education institution.

Enyedi said a related agreement with the Hungarian government would benefit Hungary’s higher education sector, Hungarian society and CEU.

Hungary tightened rules governing the operations of foreign universities in the country in 2017, requiring foreign colleges and universities in Hungary to operate on the basis of an interstate agreement and to run a campus in the country in which they are based.


HUNGARIAN UNIVERSITIES AMONG THE BEST IN THE WORLD – CEU RANKS THE 41ST! – CHECK OUT HERE!


Last December, CEU announced that it will relocate all its US-accredited courses to Vienna for the start of the 2019/2020 academic year.

The university said then that over the course of 20 months, it had taken all steps to comply with Hungarian legislation, launching educational activities in the US that were certified by US authorities. But it said the Hungarian government had made it clear that it had no intention of signing the agreement it had negotiated with the State of New York on ensuring CEU’s operations in Budapest for the long term.

In March, Innovation and Technology Minister László Palkovics said the matter of CEU had been brought up at his talks with Federal Minister of Education and Research Anja Karliczek in Berlin. The minister said he had confirmed the Hungarian government’s support for a proposal by European People’s Party group leader and spitzenkandidat Manfred Weber on the university forming a partnership with the Technical University of Munich and carmaker BMW.


ORBÁN ‘ACCEPTS’ BAVARIAN OFFER ON CEU, SAYS BAVARIAN MINISTER

Orbán ‘accepts’ Bavarian offer on CEU, says Bavarian minister

orbán

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has accepted the Bavarian provincial government’s offer concerning scientific cooperation with the Central European University, Florian Herrmann, the Bavarian minister of state for EU and media affairs told Munich daily Süddeutsche Zeitung.

According to the proposal, the Munich Technical University (TUM) would fund two faculties on democracy and governance at CEU.

CEU was barred from issuing American degrees in Hungary last year, as the government said it had failed to comply with a law amendment requiring educational activity in the university’s country of origin.

TUM would co-fund a third faculty which would operate as a foundation, Herrmann said.

Herrmann said

Orbán had “guaranteed” that the CEU would be allowed to continue its research and educational work in Budapest.

Herrmann said he believed the gesture on the part of the Hungarian prime minister was a clear sign that he wanted to dampen the controversy surrounding his Fidesz party within the European Peoples’ Party (EPP).


CEU WELCOMES WEBER’S HELP, WANTS LEGAL ASSURANCES FROM ORBÁN – Details HERE

CEU welcomes Weber’s help, wants legal assurances from Orbán

ORBÁN Viktor; WEBER, Manfred EPP

The Central European University (CEU) has welcomed efforts by Manfred Weber, the group leader of the European People’s Party, to help the university, but wants legal assurances from the prime minister so that it can continue operating in Budapest.

CEU said in a statement on Thursday that it thanked the Bavarian government for financial and technical support offered to facilitate long-term cooperation between the university and the Technical University of Munich (TUM).

Michael Ignatieff, President and Rector of CEU, discussed cooperation opportunities with Wolfgang A. Herrmann, the president of TUM.

While CEU welcomes these developments, and the possibility it opens of reversing CEU’s ouster from Budapest,

we must be absolutely clear that the parties to a possible collaboration can only proceed if the Hungarian Prime Minister provides an authoritative political commitment to his European partners that CEU will be allowed to remain in Budapest, as a free institution, offering American and European accredited degrees and that this political commitment is backed up by legislation that provides legally binding authorization for all of CEU’s operations in Budapest,” the university said in a statement.

Featured image: MTI

CEU Budapest rector Ignatieff wins Dan David Prize for ‘Defending Democracy’

Michael Ignatieff, the president and rector of Central European University, has been awarded the 2019 Dan David Prize for his outstanding contribution to the defense of democracy.

CEU press release said, awarded for innovative and interdisciplinary research, the annual Prize recognizes individuals and organizations whose humanistic, scientific and technological accomplishments represent remarkable achievements in selected fields. This year’s fields are Macro History, Defending Democracy and Combating Climate Change. Ignatieff shares the prize for Defending Democracy with fellow laureate, Reporters Without Borders, an organization based in France that promotes and defends press internationally.

“My first reaction was utter astonishment, followed by gratitude and then, since this is recognition for work done in defense of democracy, the feeling that I still have lots to do,” said Ignatieff.

The board of the Dan David Prize highlighted Ignatieff’s leadership as the President and Rector of Central European University in Budapest, standing in the front lines against the campaign to stifle academic freedom, free expression and pluralism in the country.

“The liberal democratic order faces a rising tide of new authoritarianism and populism; the very values that have sustained freedom and democracy are called into question,” said Ariel David, a member of the Dan David Prize’s board and son of the Prize founder.

“Professor Michael Ignatieff and Reporters Without Borders are being recognized for their leadership in the daily struggle to protect freedom of academia and freedom of the press. These basic liberties are pillars of democracy and it is no coincidence that the media and universities are often the primary targets of the populist and authoritarian regimes that have risen to power.”

Ignatieff and Reporters Without Borders, along with the three other laureates, will be honored at the 2019 Dan David Prize award ceremony at Tel Aviv University later this year.

“I am especially delighted to be honored in Israel, and by a great Israeli university,” said Ignatieff.

The Dan David Prize awards a total of US$3 million to prize winners annually (US$1 million per field, to be shared equally where there is more than one winner).


US AMBASSADOR: I AM TRULY SADDENED TO SEE CEU LEAVE

US Ambassador David B. Cornstein expressed satisfaction that Hungary and his country “have elevated the dialogue” in recent months, while ties have been friendly and worthy of two allies, read more HERE.

Decision has been made: CEU to launch all US-accredited degree programs in Vienna in 2019

CEU Central European University

Budapest’s Central European University (CEU) will launch all US-accredited degree programs in Vienna in September 2019, the university said on Monday.

CEU said in a statement that it was making the announcement today in order to guarantee that it can recruit students in time for the beginning of the next academic year.

“Over the course of 20 months, CEU has taken all steps to comply with Hungarian legislation, launching educational activities in the US that were certified by US authorities. Nevertheless, the Hungarian government has made it clear it has no intention of signing the agreement that it negotiated over a year ago with the State of New York, which would ensure CEU’s operations in Budapest for the long term,” the statement added.

The case of CEU has been on the agenda for a while. They have declared that unless the university can emerge from its current legal limbo in Hungary by December 1, the new student intake for its American accredited masters and doctoral programmes will study at the CEU’s new campus in Vienna.

Despite all negotiation efforts, the decision has been made: CEU is moving its programmes to Vienna.

“CEU has been forced out,” the university’s president and rector said.

“This is unprecedented. A US institution has been driven out of a country that is a NATO ally. A European institution has been ousted from a member state of the EU,” Michael Ignatieff added.

He said that the Hungarian government had done an injustice toward its own citizens, the hundreds of Hungarians who work and study at CEU, and thousands of Hungarian alumni and their families.

CEU further said the excellence of its academic programmes has been certified by US education authorities and the Hungarian Accreditation Committee.

It called the “arbitrary eviction of a reputable university” a “flagrant violation of academic freedom” and “a dark day for Europe and a dark day for Hungary.”

The university further regretted that the Hungarian government had “refused to listen to the representations they received from members of the US Congress, the Office of the Governor of the State of New York, the Venice Commission, members of the European Parliament, leaders of universities around the world, over two dozen Nobel Laureates, but above all, the thousands of Hungarians from all walks of life who demonstrated peacefully and called for ‘free universities in a free country'”.

It said that CEU is registered in Austria to issue US-accredited degrees and will welcome all incoming students to its Vienna location in September 2019, adding that enrolled students will complete their studies in Budapest.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Ignatieff said the university fulfilled all of its legal obligations according the State of New York, but the Hungarian government had refused to accept this stance. He said CEU had sought to fulfill its obligations under the amended higher education act, but for the sake of the students, it could not wait any longer.

The rector said he believed the government did not want to resolve CEU’s situation.

Ignatieff said Hungarians would have to ask themselves who wins under the current situation and whether what was happening with CEU would benefit Hungarian higher education and academia. He added that the rule of law and academic freedom were inseparable.

CEU deputy rector Zsolt Enyedi said CEU had lost hope of extending its operating permit.

Deputy rector Éva Fodor said the most important thing for CEU over the coming period would be ensuring that the quality of teaching and learning at the university does not decline. She said CEU also had to focus on preserving its unity, stressing that it would remain a single institution despite the fact that it would operate at multiple venues.

In a press statement released by the US State Department, a spokesperson said the US government was “disappointed” that the Hungarian government and CEU had not concluded an agreement that would allow the university to continue its US-accredited programmes in Hungary.

“Since the Hungarian government amended its law on higher education in April 2017, we have worked diligently with both parties to find a solution that would allow CEU to preserve these programs in Hungary,” Heather Nauert said in the statement.

“The United States values the role that CEU and other American educational institutions play in building connections between the Hungarian and American people and strengthening the transatlantic bond. The departure of these U.S.-accredited programs from Hungary will be a loss for the CEU community, for the United States, and for Hungary,” she added.

CEU is accredited in the US and Hungary with 1,200 master’s and doctoral students in the humanities, social sciences, business, law, cognitive and network science. The university employs 770 staff and faculty. It contributed 25 million euros (8 billion forints) to the Hungarian economy each year in taxes, pension and health contributions, and payments to suppliers, the university said.

Hungary’s amended higher education act requires foreign colleges and universities in Hungary to operate on the basis of an interstate agreement and to run a campus in the country in which they are based.

Featured image: www.facebook.com/CentralEuropeanUniversity

CEU Rector: Orbán cabinet appears to have decided on university’s fate in Hungary – UPDATE

ceu budapest hungary

The Central European University’s (CEU) rector and president, Michael Ignatieff, has said that it appeared from recent statements by Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, that the government had already decided on the university’s fate in Hungary.

In a letter to Szijjártó, the CEU’s rector wrote: “In remarks to the press earlier this week, you gave the clearest indication yet that on January 1, 2019 your government will force CEU out of Hungary.”

“You assert that CEU has not established educational activity in the State of New York. This will obviously be the basis on which the government justifies its decision,” Ignatieff said in the letter seen by MTI.

“If this is the government’s decision, it will be ignoring the terms of your own legislation,” he added.

The Hungarian higher education law “clearly states that the authorities competent to decide whether a foreign institution is conducting educational activities in its home state are the educational authorities of that state. The New York State Department of Education has repeatedly informed the government of Hungary that CEU is conducting educational activities in New York. You cannot be unaware of this correspondence. It has been a matter of public record for months,” the letter said.

The open letter from Central European University rector Ignatieff to Foreign minister Szijjártó:

Dear Mr Foreign Minister

In remarks to the press earlier this week, you gave the clearest indication yet that on January 1, 2019 your government will force CEU out of Hungary.

You assert that CEU has not established educational activity in the State of New York. This will obviously be the basis on which the government justifies its decision.

If this is the government’s decision, it will be ignoring the terms of your own legislation. The Hungarian higher education law, passed by your Parliament, clearly states that the authorities competent to decide whether a foreign institution is conducting educational activities in its home state are the educational authorities of that state. The New York State Department of Education has repeatedly informed the government of Hungary that CEU is conducting educational activities in New York. You cannot be unaware of this correspondence. It has been a matter of public record for months.

The question of whether CEU has complied with the law should be determined by the terms of the law itself. If you choose to ignore the terms of your own legislation, the responsibility for that lies with you.

You also must be aware that your Ministerial colleague, Mr. Palkovics as well as Mr. Kristof Altusz, from your own Ministry, visited Bard College in April 2018. In the presence of Trustees and Chairman of the CEU Board, they gave clear indications that CEU had established educational activity on the Bard College campus.

You will also be aware that M. Altusz engaged in productive negotiations with the chief legal counsel of the Governor of New York through the summer of 2017. These discussions resulted in the text of a draft agreement which CEU accepted as the basis of its future operations in Hungary. This document remains the basis for a potential settlement.

For eighteen months, CEU has sought a solution that would allow us to remain in Hungary but your remarks indicate that your government has already made up its mind.

As minister you and your government will bear responsibility for the harm that your decisions will do to Hungary’s higher education system and to the country’s international reputation.

Yours,

Michael Ignatieff
Rector and President

UPDATE

Szijjártó: CEU seeking ‘political mess’

Budapest’s “Soros university” is seeking “political upheaval rather than a solution”, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said in reaction to a letter by Central European University (CEU) Rector Michael Ignatieff, on Friday.

Szijjártó insisted that he had not received the rector’s letter when it had been shared with the press, and said it also showed that the university was more interested in a “political mess” rather than in resolving the issue.

In his letter, Ignatieff said that the CEU had been seeking ways for the university to stay in Budapest for the past 18 months. The foreign minister’s recent remarks, however, indicate that the government has already made a decision on the fate of the university, he added.

Over 1,000 participants protest in support of CEU in Budapest

momentum ceu

A protest to express solidarity with the Central European University, organised by the Momentum Movement, was held with over 1,000 participants in central Budapest on Friday.

As we wrote before, the Central European University (CEU) has said that unless the university can emerge from its current legal limbo in Hungary by December 1, the new student intake for its American accredited masters and doctoral programmes will study at the CEU’s new campus in Vienna. Read more HERE.

Independent lawmaker Bernadett Szél told the event that the government “is afraid of knowledge” and has a problem with the CEU because the university teaches people to think independently instead of “regurgitating ready-made answers”.

Those in power have named the “Soros network” as an enemy, yet such a network does not even exist,

she said.

Momentum Movement leader Andras Fekete-Győr told the crowd that

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán uses “the language of brute force” and “will run over everyone who stay silent”.

Fekete-Győr asked leaders in higher education, health care and public education to join forces, and promised that Momentum would support them.

Interview – Orbán: Nation to benefit from ‘even stronger’ family policy

Orbán radio interview

The government’s enhanced support for families will “benefit the whole nation, including young people” in the long run, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told public Kossuth Radio on Friday.

“Young people often plan a family … and then face financial difficulties,” Orbán said, adding that he wanted to build a Hungary in which young people are not forced to change their plans due to money worries.

Compared with other European Union members, Hungary has the highest family support in relation to GDP, the prime minister said, noting government efforts to reverse negative population trends.

“Hungary’s population is steadily decreasing,”

Orbán said, adding that measures must be geared towards ensuring an adequate replacement rate.

Enhanced family support will promote childbirth and lower the average age, which will make Hungary a “merry and happy” country, Orbán said.

Concerning the government’s latest public consultation survey, Orbán said that the economy was strong enough to allow for more assistance to families. The government is looking to voters for “guidelines” for its next measures, Orbán said, and encouraged residents to “spend half an hour” and fill in the questionnaires.

On the subject of the European People’s Party’s congress in Helsinki, Orbán said “it had not been difficult” to decide whom to support of the two candidates. He called

Alexander Stubb an “extremely liberal, pro-migration politician” while he said Manfred Weber was a Christian Democrat.

In his interview, Orbán referred to the United Nations’ migration pact, calling for it to be ditched because “governments should side with the people and protect them from illegal migration, terrorism, crime, and economic difficulties”. He insisted that the plan would “go against the will of the vast majority of Europeans”.

“This is a bad pact”, Orbán said, arguing the plan was aimed at driving international support for “principles that are in conflict with the interests of Hungarian people” such as acknowledging migration as a human right. “We won’t accommodate migrants and cannot accept a document which presents it as a noble and globally shared purpose,” Orbán said.

[button link=”https://dailynewshungary.com/tag/migration/” type=”big” color=”red” newwindow=”yes”] Read more news about MIGRATION[/button]

Referring to his recent trip to China, he said Hungary’s political stability within the region was especially prized. He said that

experts in China converged on the view that central Europe will be the engine of growth in Europe in the next 5 to 10 years.

Budapest, he added, is the centre of cooperation between 16 central and eastern European countries, the Balkans and China. Orbán said Hungarian quality manufacture in China is competitive and his visit had resulted in a deal to resume exports of Hungarian poultry halted due to bird flu. Further, hundreds of millions of dollars of Hungarian business opportunities have opened up, too, he added.

Asked about the Central European University (CEU), Orbán said “hysteria” had been generated around the “Soros university” for as long as the CEU had been present in the country. “However much hysteria is whipped up around any one university, I’m not inclined to allow anyone to operate outside of the law.” At the same time, the prime minister said the prospect of the CEU leaving Hungary was “a bluff” since Hungarian law provided for the possibility of the universities operations and “the legal requirements for their operation in Hungary are guaranteed.”

“I’d place a large bet that we’ll still see them in Budapest,” he added.

CEU-affair: Audio recording reveals CEU offers no post-grad courses at Bard College – UPDATE

The Central European University (CEU) offers no post-graduate courses at Bard College (BC) in the United States, daily Magyar Idők said on Thursday citing an audio recording that features the head of the college’s education department.

Hungary tightened rules governing the operations of foreign universities in the country last year, requiring foreign colleges and universities in Hungary to operate on the basis of an interstate agreement and to run a campus in the country in which they are based.

CEU, which is based in Budapest but accredited by the State of New York, complained that it was targeted by the amended legislation because it has no campus in the United States. In the autumn, CEU said it signed a memorandum of understanding with BC to provide educational activities in New York.

In the audio recording Director of Graduate Admissions at BC Janet Stetson told a student making an inquiry about CEU training courses at BC that CEU offered no master degree courses at BC or any other form of training in the US.

Under what Stetson qualified as very loose cooperation, BA students at Bard College spend half a year or a full one at the CEU as partial transfer students, and can only complete their studies and get their BA degree after returning to the US.

All BC courses linked to the CEU are offered only at the CEU and not in the US, the paper said citing the audio recording with Stetson. What CEU offers at BC are not post-graduate courses, it added.

Magyar Idők called this important because whereas post-graduate courses did offer a second degree, partial transfer students were not eligible for a recognised certificate.

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CEU deputy rector Zsolt Enyedi told the paper that the Advanced Certificate Program offered by the CEU represented a form of post-graduate training and only students holding a CEU or BC degree who are still enrolled in one of the two universities were eligible for the programme.

Magyar Hírlap commented that the two conditions were difficult to meet simultaneously because a student would only be eligible to apply for a CEU course in the US if he or she is already enrolled in a post-grad course.

Enyedi also told the paper that it was not Stetson but Vice President for Academic Affairs Jonathan Becker who was in charge of the programme.

He added that CEU launched another programme in New York from September, by converting an international affairs MA programme previously only available in Budapest to a Budapest-New York programme. This is not a joint programme with BC because the CEU provides all the necessary conditions for it, he said.

Magyar Idők said that based on the above information, CEU falsely claimed that it had launched educational activities in the US and it still did not meet the requirements of the Hungarian law.

The paper cited government spokesman Zoltán Kovács as saying that information revealed about the agreement between the CEU and Bard College show that

the CEU failed to fulfil the criteria that all other international higher education institutions operating in Hungary met, namely that they offer educational activities in their home country and have a campus there.

UPDATE

CEU responded by refuting what it said was a series of “inaccuracies” published by Magyar Idok.

The university said in a statement that the academic programme it had launched with Bard College fulfilled the Hungarian higher education legislation requirement to conduct educational activity in its home country.

“The US authority regulating educational activity, the New York State Education Department, has repeatedly confirmed its registration and approval of this program in the state in direct correspondence to the Hungarian authorities, and CEU has released this information publicly on more than one occasion,” CEU said.

It quoted CEU President and Rector Michael Ignatieff as saying that “this is a malicious attempt not only to discredit CEU but to discredit the American regulators who have repeatedly confirmed that we conduct educational activities in the US”.

“This campaign of disinformation needs to stop. CEU complied over a year ago. It is the Hungarian government that is making a solution impossible,” the rector said.

Jobbik about the CEU-affair

ceu budapest hungary

Published on the Facebook account of Márton Gyöngyösi, the leader of Jobbik’s parliamentary group: 

After everybody has expressed their opinions on the political implications of the Central European University’s current situation, let me discuss it from a different point of view. This is the point of view of a parent who raises an 11-year-old boy and, just like so many others in this country, strives to help his child become a successful, happy and satisfied adult. Besides that, I also want him to be honest, a good patriot and a true Christian who is a pride of his family and earns the respect of the people who know him. Last but not least, I want him to be a free man; someone who can make life-forming decisions and take responsibility for them, too.

That’s exactly why I don’t want to dictate him how he should achieve all that. It doesn’t matter if he grows up to be a teacher, doctor, IT expert, banker or a craftsman, carpenter or bricklayer. I’m not even scared by the idea that he might take on a career in politics. I don’t want to tell him what schools he should graduate from. All I want from him is to always remember the values that he was given at home.

But it doesn’t mean that I would be afraid for my son to be in the company of people with different views on the world. I myself was never afraid of that, and I spent a lot of time among liberal and leftist people during my university years. Indeed, I had a lot of debates with them, I argued for my own truth and I learnt a lot about how to stand for what is important for me. So I wouldn’t be scared even if my son wanted to go to a university like the CEU. A true patriot, a true Christian can tell the good from the bad and stand for his own truth.

This is the big difference between true patriotism, true conservatism and what this sticky-fingered Hungarian government is doing. Their problem is not the ideology of the CEU… Not at all, come on! Their problem is that they don’t own the CEU.

Viktor Orbán doesn’t want to raise Hungarian children to become patriots or true Christians. He wants to raise servants. He wants people who can be made to kneel before the Fidesz-delegated mayor while they are in elementary school, their creativity curbed by the Fidesz-appointed principal while they are in high school and finally be thrown into a local assembly plant of a big western corporation.

And if they like none of these options, Fidesz will mercifully allow them to go abroad, just to be called traitors by Fidesz’ media back home. That’s why the Orbán regime wants to put its hand on every school. They’ve already taken most of the universities, now it’s time for high schools and then whatever is left. However, they can’t put their hands on the CEU and that’s their real problem.

Today it’s not just a CEU issue. It’s not the political cause that we must stand for. What we must stand for is the Hungarian universities and the honour of knowledge.

I stand for freedom that is based on knowledge and independence that is based on a willingness to engage in debates. I stand for my son being able to decide what he wants to become and not having to rely on the guidance of any mayor or Fidesz puppet, just like I never had to rely on either the council chairman or any foul-smelling Communist comrade. I want to raise my son to become a confident Hungarian man and not a kowtowing servant. I also want all other young Hungarian men to be proud Hungarians who know their place in the world. And the real threat to this effort is not the CEU but Viktor Orbán and his regime…

As we wrote before, the CEU has said that unless the university can emerge from its current legal limbo in Hungary by December 1, the new student intake for its American accredited masters and doctoral programmes will study at the CEU’s new campus in Vienna, read details HERE.

Photo: ceu.edu

Thousands gathered in Budapest to express solidarity with CEU

ceu demonstration

Thousands gathered in central Budapest to express solidarity with the Central European University, in a demonstration staged by the Momentum Movement, on Friday.

Momentum leader András Fekete-Győr told the crowd that the government “wants to expel CEU from Hungary” because Prime Minister Viktor Orban “is terrified of all those that have thoughts”. He gave the prime minister until December 1 “to take his dirty, corrupted hands off the university” and called on Hungarians “to defend what belongs to them”.

The CEU has said that unless the university can emerge from its current legal limbo in Hungary by December 1, the new student intake for its American accredited masters and doctoral programmes will study at the CEU’s new campus in Vienna(details).

Michael Ignatieff, the CEU’s president and rector, told a news conference in Budapest on Thursday that the decision by the institution’s board of trustees will come into effect on December 1, though, he added, hopefully a solution to the stand-off was still possible to ensure that courses continue in Hungary.

But if a solution is not found, the CEU will move to Vienna “given we cannot continue to operate legally in Budapest,” he said.

Ruling Fidesz said in a statement that Momentum “promotes the interests of businessman George Soros”. They argued that politicians of the opposition are backed by the US billionaire and “they are now paying their gratitude in front of the Soros university”. The statement added that the CEU “is operating undisturbed” and the “hysteria around it is but a political ploy”.

Photo: MTI

Green opposition LMP sees political showdown against CEU

MP Ungár LMP party

The government’s comments on developments around the Central European University (CEU) are “absurd and fake”, green opposition LMP lawmaker Péter Ungár said on Thursday, adding that the CEU was being subjected to a “political showdown”.

The CEU has said that unless the university can emerge from its current legal limbo in Hungary by December 1, incoming students will start their studies at the CEU’s new campus in Vienna. Michael Ignatieff, the CEU’s president and rector, told a news conference in Budapest that the decision by the institution’s board of trustees will come into effect on December 1, though, he added, hopefully a solution to the stand-off was still possible to ensure that courses continue in Hungary.

In response to the CEU press conference, government spokesman Zoltán Kovács branded Ignatieff’s statement as “a political bluff” on the part of US billionaire George Soros, the CEU’s founder and main benefactor. He said the CEU “will continue to operate in Hungary today, and, in our opinion, in the future too.”

Ungár said government claims that the CEU had benefits that other Hungarian universities did not were untrue. He added that it was the government’s decision to introduce tuition fees and withdraw funding that harmed Hungarian universities the most.

“The fact that the government has a dispute with the financier of the CEU, who actually also financed the current ruling party in the 90s, provides a frisson of excitement,” but to destroy Hungary’s higher education because of it goes against the interest of the nation, he said.

“What’s happening to the university now will only damage Hungary because its students have been spreading the country’s good reputation around the world.”

Photo: MTI (illustration)