Canada’s New Democratic Party (NDP) expressed its serious concerns about the state of democracy in Hungary in a comment provided to the Hungarian Free Press. The comment was made by Hélène Laverdière, the NDP’s Critic for Foreign Affairs and Member of Parliament for the riding of Laurier – Sainte-Marie. HFP asked Ms. Laverdière to comment on the many rule of law violations in Hungary, the attacks on academic freedom, the country’s slide into authoritarianism and the relative silence of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government. Ms. Laverdière provided the following comment:
“We have serious concerns about the erosion of respect for democracy and academic freedom in Hungary. Central European University is an internationally-respected institution of higher education. We oppose the closure of CEU and support efforts by the EU and by Michael Ignatieff to ensure CEU stays open. Academic freedom must be respected.”
Hélène Laverdière
The NDP is a centre-left opposition party with 44 seats in Canada’s House of Commons, making it the third largest party in parliament.
Global Affairs Canada also offered our publication comment on the situation in Hungary. We contacted the Conservative Party of Canada for their view as well, but have not received comment at the time of publication.
