Politics1 min read

University hounded out of Hungary by Orbán reaches out to new government

By · Via The Guardian · Published by Everything Blog

In short

Central European University is contemplating an expansion of its academic footprint in Budapest, though formal discussions with Hungary's new government have not yet commenced. Interim president Carsten Q Schneider affirmed that while teaching relocated to Vienna in 2019, the university still keeps 312 administrative personnel in the Hungarian capital. A complete relocation back to Hungary is ruled out to preserve educational standards and prevent student commuting between the two campuses. The ultimate decision on program expansion remains with the university's 13-member board, which includes founder George Soros.

Key points

  • University leadership has excluded a full return to Budapest to prevent students from hav…: University leadership has excluded a full return to Budapest to prevent students from having to commute between two cities.
  • Any official expansion of academic programmes in Hungary requires the final authorization…: Any official expansion of academic programmes in Hungary requires the final authorization of the university's 13-member governing board.
  • The institution intends to maintain complete financial independence from the Hungarian go…: The institution intends to maintain complete financial independence from the Hungarian government while expanding as a symbol of academic resilience.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

A university that Viktor Orbán tried to chase out of Hungary is open to expanding its presence in Budapest, in a mark of confidence in the country’s democratic future.

Carsten Q Schneider, the interim president and rector of Central European University (CEU), said it was interested in increasing its programmes in Budapest, as long as this did not damage the student experience.

So far the CEU has not held formal talks with Hungary’s new government, which has promised to restore academic freedom, “but our hand is reaching out, their hand is reaching out – it is just that they have many things to do”, the academic told the Guardian.

The CEU relocated its main activities to Vienna from Budapest in 2019, after pressure from the previous government led by Orbán. But the outlook changed when Péter Magyar won a landslide victory in April pledging to root out corruption and reform the state.

The CEU, founded by Hungarian-American financier and philanthropist George Soros in 1991 to entrench democratic change in the region, was forced to cease awarding degrees in Budapest in…

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