higher education law

Orbán: Hungary’s stand successfully defended at EPP meeting – UPDATE

Brussels, April 29 (MTI) – Hungary’s stand was successfully defended at a meeting of the European People’s Party in Brussels on Saturday, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said after a summit of EU leaders that followed the EPP meeting.

The matter of the Central European University (CEU) will proceed on its own legal course, Orbán said. Nobody can impose conditions on Hungary, he added.

This is a legal question that the European Commission (EC) and Hungary will negotiate in the coming months, he said. Hungary will fully implement the agreement reached during these talks, he told a press conference.

Commenting on a visit by CEU founder George Soros to Brussels to meet EU leaders, Orbán said “there are some who wish to hurt Hungary, and there are others whose job is to defend the country”.

Support in Hungary for the country’s EU membership is bigger than anywhere else, and the government has played a role in this result, Orbán said. Hungary’s government is pro-European, he added.

At the same time, the government will not give up its view that the EU is run poorly and must be reformed, he said. An open debate and talks must be conducted on this matter, he added.

There are some issues that present a danger to Hungarians, such as migration and the EC’s initiative to do away with utilities price cuts, Orbán said.

The “Let’s Stop Brussels” consultation is not anti-Brussels or anti-Europe, rather Hungary wants the scope of authority of the member states and of Brussels to remain unchanged, he said.

UPDATE

In response to the EPP meeting, the opposition Socialists said that “Viktor Orbán has put Hungary to shame and got stuck in his own spiral of lies”. The party said in a statement that “Viktor Orban suffered a defeat and it was not the first time that he was forced to lay down the arms”.

The Democratic Coalition said the EPP “called on the carpet” Viktor Orbán who had ultimately lost all of his “allies”. The party said it welcomed that “the EPP has started to understand that Viktor Orbán is not only destroying his country, but poses a danger to the European Union as well”.

 

Photo: MTI/Prime Minister Press Office

European People’s Party: Hungary government wants to comply with EC conditions

Budapest (MTI) – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has stated that his government wants to comply fully with the European Commission’s conditions related to amendments to the higher education act, a spokesman for the European People’s Party, among whose ranks governing Fidesz stands, said in Brussels on Saturday.

This means that the Hungarian government must produce a plan, within a month, on how it intends to bring the law in line with the EC’s expectations, Siegfried Muresan said after a meeting of EPP leaders.

The EPP leadership considers it important that Budapest’s Central European University (CEU) be allowed to continue operating “without any kind of restriction”, Muresan added.

Experience shows that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has always been prepared to negotiate and has always complied with European Union rules in the end, Manfred Weber, who heads the MEPs of the European People’s Party, said after the EPP leaders’ meeting.

He said the Hungarian government had been democratically elected and Mr Orban has the right to present his stand; however, in the end, he must comply with the requirements imposed by the European Commission regarding the amendments to the higher education act.

The Presidency of the EPP asked Orbán to honour one of the party’s main principles: academic freedom, Mr Weber said. Shutting down universities is unacceptable, he added.

A statement by the EPP sent to MTI said Hungary’s planned tightening of rules on NGOs as well as the Hungarian government’s “Let’s Stop Brussels” national consultation had come up as well as the higher education act.

EPP President Joseph Daul said that, after an “open and frank” discussion, the EPP Presidency had asked Fidesz and the Hungarian authorities to “take all necessary steps to comply with the Commission’s request”.

“Prime Minister Orbán has reassured the EPP that Hungary will act accordingly,” the statement added.

“The EPP Presidency sent a clear message to Prime Minister Orbán and his party, Fidesz, that we will not accept that any basic freedoms are restricted or rule of law is disregarded. This includes academic freedom and the autonomy of universities. The EPP wants the CEU to remain open, deadlines suspended and dialogue with the US to begin,” the statement said.

The EPP made clear that the “blatant anti-EU rhetoric” of the “Let’s Stop Brussels” consultation was unacceptable.

“The constant attacks on Europe…have reached a level we can not tolerate,” the statement said, adding that the consultation had been “deeply misleading”.

“Decisions in Brussels are taken collectively by European governments, including [Orbán’s] Hungarian government, and by the European Parliament, which includes representatives of the Hungarian people,” the statement said.

Additionally, the EPP’s president said in the statement that “NGOs are an integral part of any healthy democracy”.

The European Commission on Wednesday launched an infringement procedure against Hungary over amendments to the higher education act.

“The law is not compatible with the fundamental internal market freedoms, notably the freedom to provide services and the freedom of establishment but also with the right of academic freedom, the right to education and the freedom to conduct a business as provided by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, as well as with the Union’s legal obligations under international trade law,” the EC said.

The amendments require foreign colleges and universities in Hungary to operate on the basis of an intergovernmental agreement and to have a campus in the country in which they are based.

The CEU which is accredited in the United States but has just one campus, in Budapest, earlier said the changes to the higher education act would make its continued operation in Budapest “impossible”.

Photo: MTI/EPA/Domenic Aquilina

Hungary’s government spokesman has talks in Washington

washington

Washington, DC, April 28 (MTI) – Government spokesman Zoltán Kovács concluded a four-day visit to Washington, DC on Thursday during which he met congressmen and representatives of brain trusts and visited background institutions as well as the Congressional Research Service.

Kovács held talks with Republican congressmen Dennis Ross of Florida and Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska, along with Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. He also met representatives of research institutions such as the German Marshall Fund, the conservative Heritage Foundation and the Family Research Council.

Speaking to MTI about his talks on Thursday, Kovács said he had briefed all his negotiating partners on the Hungarian government’s policies of the past seven years.

“We of course also talked about current affairs, such as the issue of the Central European University (CEU) and NGOs, and the impression I got from everyone was that they really do understand what’s going on,” the government spokesman said. He said the news that had reached the US about the CEU was “mostly the one-sided bits of information containing the same half-truths being spread by the CEU’s rector and Soros allies”.

He suggested that prejudice in connection with Hungary in the US seemed to be “easing”, adding at the same time that most of the information that reaches the country was “still quite one-sided”.

Kovács said that if Hungary wants to change the way it is perceived in the world it is not enough for it to spread information to embassies but it had to “go straight to news organisations and reach a lot more people”. He added, however, that the Hungarian government often does not get a chance to share accurate information.

Asked about a letter sent last week to the Hungarian prime minister by a bipartisan group of US senators about the need to keep the CEU in Budapest, Kovács said he was convinced, based on his talks, that US politicians had not overestimated the importance of the letter and were aware that “the amendment to the higher education law is not about the CEU specifically but about all foreign universities operating in Hungary, and that there is nothing in the amendment that would be impossible to fulfil.”

Asked what it was that had interested his negotiating partners the most, Kovács said it was not the issue surrounding the CEU, but rather migration and the future of the European Union.

Hungarian government news briefing about Brussels, NGOs, education and other topics

Budapest, April 27 (MTI) – Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his government succeeded in defending Hungary’s interests in Wednesday’s plenary debate in the European Parliament, the government office chief told a weekly news briefing on Thursday. The government will submit its proposals related to the 2018 budget bill to parliament next Tuesday and the assembly’s vote is expected on June 15, he said.

János Lázár said at the same time that Hungary stood ready, “after evaluating the situation”, to make changes to fully align Hungarian laws with European legislation.

Concerning Hungary’s contested higher education law, one of the subjects of the EP plenary, Lázár said that “it is obvious that … it is not higher education [in Hungary] which could be compromised but the interests of the speculator [US financier] George Soros”.

Referring to EU infringement procedures against Hungary, he said Brussels had expressed concerns not about academic freedom but about business related matters regarding the free flow of services.

“It’s a lot easier that the debate does not have to be about academic freedom but about business matters,” Lázár said.

He also said that Kristóf Altusz, the government’s negotiator on the operation of foreign universities in Hungary, had discussed the issue surrounding the Central European University (CEU) with a number of embassies and foreign representatives, and would soon also discuss it with the US charge d’affaires.

Regarding EU matters, Lázár touched on the topic of illegal migration, noting that Hungary and the EU had decided to set up a working group to review Hungary’s tightened asylum laws. Hungary’s stance is to “stop migration rather than organise it”, Lázár said.

On the topic of a bill before parliament on the transparency of civil groups funded by foreign donors, Lázár said that organisations that accept money from abroad should not feel ashamed to declare their sources of financing. There are certain organisations that play major roles in Hungarian public life, representing the interests of illegal migrants against those of Hungary, the government office chief said, naming the Hungarian Helsinki Committee and the Civil Liberties Union (TASZ) as examples, referring to them as “Soros’ favourites”.

Answering a question, Lázár also mentioned environmental group Greenpeace, which he said could be expected to challenge all environmental protection-related aspects of the upgrade of the Paks nuclear plant. He said that if Greenpeace Hungary’s sources of financing became public, it could be determined whether the organisation represents its own views or the interests of “the green energy lobby”.

On another subject, Lázár said that over 470,000 respondents in the government’s national survey have returned their questionnaires by post, while another 52,000 answered the questions online.

Lázár also talked about Orbán’s upcoming second visit scheduled for this weekend to Brussels, where the prime minister will meet leaders of the European People’s Party and attend the special EU summit on Brexit. Regarding the EPP, Lázár repeated that ruling Fidesz had no intention of quitting the group, nor does it expect to be expelled from it. Lázár said he believed it was clear to the leaders of the EPP that calls for Fidesz’s expulsion from the group were coming not from the EPP but rather from “the Communists and the Socialists”.

Government to submit budget proposal to MPs on Tuesday

Next year’s budget will be “stable and predictable” and will guarantee that the public debt is reduced sustainably, Lázár said.

Eighty percent of next year’s resources will be used to finance operations, while 20 percent will be spent on developments, Lázár said. Concerning details of the budget proposal, he said the health sector will receive 185 billion forints (EUR 593m) more than this year, while education will benefit from an extra 82 billion and law enforcement and public security an extra 55 billion forints in 2018.

In 2018, the government will continue its career models programme, affecting some 556,000 people, whose wages will increase between 30-45 percent, Lázár said. He added that the scheme would add 906 billion forints to the spending side of the budget. The budget reserves are planned to be around 200 billion forints.

He said several tax cuts will be implemented and craft breweries will get a 50 percent excise tax break on up to 200,000 hectolitres of beer instead of the current 8,000 hectolitres.

Lázár said the secrecy of documents connected to the planned Paks nuclear power station development scheme has been reduced considerably as a result of consultations with the European Commission. Under a reclassification procedure he has initiated, the majority of the contract documents signed with Russia will be made accessible. This will not threaten the project and at the same time, it will be a clear response to accusations of a secret deal between the government and Russia, he said. Explaining the reasons for his decision, he referred to a recommendation by head of the Hungarian National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information Attila Péterfalvy and ongoing justice procedures.

Commenting on increased costs related to various construction projects, he said the government was bound to address this issue in general terms. The cabinet is interested in speeding up projects, the economy ministry is interested in boosting economic growth, and transport professionals expect more and more railway and road development projects. In the meantime, some of the plans were issued 2 or 3 years ago but orders have increased in the sector since and therefore prices have also gone up. The question that needs to be asked is: what is realistic and what isn’t, Lázár said.

Socialists to submit complaint over speaker’s rejection of bill to repeal higher education law

Budapest, April 26 (MTI) – The Socialist Party will submit a complaint to parliament’s justice committee after House Speaker László Kövér rejected their proposal to repeal the amended law on higher education which regulates the operations of foreign universities in Hungary, the party’s group leader said on Wednesday.

Bertalan Tóth told a press conference that Kövér had rejected the party’s proposal on the grounds that it “hurts the dignity of parliament”. Tóth described Köver’s justification as “contrived and totally see-through”.

Tóth said the speaker had not given them a proper reason for the proposal’s rejection. The group leader said the reason why their bill had been rejected was likely that its justification says: “By signing ‘lex CEU’, [President] János Áder lost his standing as president and has become an embarrassment… ”

Tóth said it was a “show of unbelievable arrogance” on Kövér’s part to reject their bill, adding that “the biggest offence to the dignity of parliament is that Kövér is its speaker”. He said their bill contained an expression of opinion, which not even Kövér should be allowed to restrict.

Toth said that by submitting their bill with its content, the Socialists had done nothing more than bring the opinions of those protesting on the streets into parliament.

He said the Socialist Party would stand by its opinion that the higher education amendment must be repealed, adding that if the justice committee failed to discuss their complaint, they would re-submit the bill to repeal the law with an altered justification.

Photo: MTI

CEU refutes Orbán’s remarks at EP

Budapest, April 26 (MTI) – The Central European University (CEU) has refuted remarks that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán made at Wednesday’s European Parliament plenary session.

Orbán attended a plenary focusing on the amendment of Hungary’s higher education law, the planned amendment of the law on civil organisations, the automatic detention of asylum-seekers, media-pluralism and the independence of the judiciary.

CEU said in a statement that Orbán had claimed, referring to a letter written by CEU President-Rector Michael Ignatieff to the students and teachers, that Ignatieff is not worried that CEU, operating in Budapest, may be closed down.

“This is false. Ignatieff assured the CEU community in that letter that the university will continue operating under any circumstances. This does not mean, however, that the survival of the university in Hungary is not under threat,” the statement showed.

The CEU said it was also false that the new law abolishes privileges and loopholes and distributes rights across universities in an equal fashion.

“For weeks now, we have been asking the government to name the specific privileges possessed in the past by CEU and the rights given now to all Hungarian universities,” the statement added.

Unfortunately Orban failed to answer these questions again, the CEU said.

CEU has worked hard to gain accreditation and issuing diplomas is not a privilege, the statement showed.

“The measures claimed to benefit the Hungarian universities met with robust protest across the entire Hungarian education sector. This is because the new law and the way it was adopted shows disrespect to Hungarian higher education and to academic freedom,” the statement added.

Photo: MTI

Plenary session of the European Parliament – Orbán’s speech – UPDATE

Brussels, April 26 (MTI) – The Hungarian government’s dedication to the European Union is “unquestionable” but in many respects, the government is dissatisfied with the operations of the EU, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told a plenary session of the European Parliament on Wednesday.

Orbán: Government’s dedication to EU ‘unquestionable’

Orbán told the session focusing on fundamental rights in Hungary that his government is critical of the EU because it wants to correct existing faults and reform the EU.

The only way to restore citizens’ trust is by making every effort to correct mistakes and this also requires clearly identifying them, Orbán said. He called for a “fair, open debate” and asked members of the EP “to give a critical approach to prejudices against Hungary”, and apply “equal standards” in matters concerning the country.

The Hungarian government is fully aware that EU membership goes not only with rights but with responsibilities, Orbán said, adding that the level of support towards the EU is high in Hungary.

EU First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said in the debate that the Hungarian government’s campaign dubbed “Let’s Stop Brussels” included false and misleading facts. The European Commission wants to clarify these issues “on the basis of hard facts” he added.

Orbán said Hungary complies with the Dublin agreement, the EU rule that a migrant’s claim must be processed in the country they first arrive in, for which he said the country deserved recognition rather than criticism. In his rebuttal to remarks by MEPs, Orbán said that by fulfilling its international obligations, Hungary was protecting Germany, Austria and Sweden, arguing that migrants crossing Hungary’s border only wanted to pass through and move on towards western Europe.

He said Hungary’s stance on migration was clear: illegal migration needs to be stopped and refugees need to be separated from economic migrants outside the EU’s borders. The EU should help those in need by providing help at the point where it is needed, the prime minister argued. He said the plan to redistribute migrants across Europe on the basis of mandatory quotas had failed, adding that such a rule had not been implemented by countries that do not go against the EU’s policies, either. The quota plan was a bad idea that needs to be ditched and a new solution must be found, Orbán insisted.

Speaking about EU funding given to Hungary, Orbán said all European Union member countries benefit from the bloc’s cohesion policy, arguing that the money Hungary receives from the EU is not a donation. Therefore, the EU must not expect Hungary “to keep our mouth shut”, Orbán said.

Even the net contributors are benefactors of cohesion policy, Orbán insisted.

“We have abolished duties and opened our markets, giving way to the free flow of capital,” despite still suffering from a lack of capital after the Communist era, Orbán said.

Orbán told MEPs that they must not treat Hungarians as if “you were giving us presents and we were indebted to you”.

Allegations suggesting CEU closure unfounded

Allegations suggesting that recent Hungarian legislation is aimed at closing down Budapest’s Central European University are unfounded, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in the European Parliament on Wednesday and argued that the law was designed to introduce uniform laws for all universities in the country.

Orbán spoke in a plenary focusing on fundamental rights in Hungary, and insisted that the new rules eliminate an opportunity for “speculation or abuse”; they ensure transparency and remove “privileges enjoyed so far”.

Orbán said that as the leader of an EU member state, he was obliged to ensure that “European and Hungarian universities suffer no drawbacks compared to their competitors”.

Manfred Weber, group leader of the European People’s Party and PM Orbán

Manfred Weber, group leader of the European People’s Party, asked Orbán to consider changes as recommended by the European Commission concerning the contested legislation. He argued that Hungarian students have enjoyed the benefits of the CEU’s dual degrees over the past 25 years and expressed incomprehension at the Hungarian government’s aiming to remove that advantage. Academic freedom is a fundamental European value, which should be retained and preserved, Weber said, and added that the CEU was doing nothing other than its job.

Orban: Soros ‘outstanding international speculator’

Soros is a “speculator” who “destroyed the lives of tens of millions of people” when he “broke” the British pound and attacked other currencies, Orbán said.

“He made a profit from millions of people becoming poor”, he added.

Not long ago, Soros was fined several hundred million forints because he speculated against the largest Hungarian financial institution and “he was within an ace of succeeding”, Orbán said.

He said it was unfortunate that the top leaders of the European Union hold talks with a speculator as if it was the most natural thing.

“That is unworthy of the institutions of the European Union,” he said.

Photo: MTI/Prime Minister Press Office / Balázs Szecsõdi