After a massive protest in Budapest on Sunday involving more than 70,000 demonstrators–who called for academic freedom and freedom in general in authoritarian Hungary–and after receiving letters and petitions from dozens of universities, academic associations and scholars abroad, President János Áder signed off on a bill that, in its current form, will make it impossible for Central European University to […]
To be honest, I didn’t know that in the last decades Yevgeny Yevtushenko lived here in the US, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He died at the age of 84 due to heart failure. Born in 1933 in a tiny Siberian outpost near Irkutsk, he was a descendant of Ukrainian exiles. As a young and good-looking poet Yevtushenko had pop-star status in […]
Hungary is replaceable. Budapest is replaceable. While anyone who knows and loves the Hungarian capital would be saddened to see the Central European University forced to go, those of us who have had our fill of seven years of Hungary’s slide into a wildly corrupt autocracy also applaud Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern’s decision to begin high level negotiations aimed at […]
In 2012 when former New York Governor George Pataki became a member of the Central European University (CEU) Board of Trustees, university founder and Honorary Chairman George Soros held a reception at his Southampton, New York home. Pataki was grateful for the appointment. As a trustee, Pataki was instrumental in selecting Michael Ignatieff, the Canadian professor and liberal politician as […]
Starting January 1st, 2018, Budapest’s Central European University (CEU) will no longer be permitted to enrol new students in any programs, unless an agreement is reached between the United States government, the State of New York and Hungary’s Orbán government no later than September and unless CEU opens a new campus in the U.S. A total of 123 MPs voted […]
Canada’s largest French-language newspaper, La Presse, published a feature piece entitled “Michael Ignatieff engaged in a battle against the Hungarian regime” (Michael Ignatieff engagé dans un combat contre le Régime hongrois) and interviewed Professor András Göllner, a Hungarian Free Press contributor, as part of its story on proposed legislation aimed at shuttering Budapest’s Central European University (CEU). Professor Göllner told La […]
The Hungarian Consulate in New York City does a fabulous job of informing the public about every event, visit or meeting conducted by their diplomats in the Big Apple. The Consulate’s homepage, personal internet pages, tweets and Facebook pages report every little happening. On March 16th, sixty alumni and friends attended the Central European University (CEU) Alumni Reception at the […]
By amending the Higher Education Act (through bill No. T/14686), the Hungarian government attacks the “Central European University“ on three points at least: – CEU is not substantiated by an international treaty, as required by the new law, since the basis of its foundation was not a special agreement made with the Hungarian government, but simply the possibility arising from […]
We have all seen this film before. The Orbán government uses its legislative might to launch an explicit attack against an institution, a prominent group, a principle or an individual. It then lines up its media empire to spread misinformation and heated rhetoric against the new public enemy number one, while successfully galvanizing and transforming its most primitive supporters into […]
Michael Ignatieff, Central European University’s rector and a citizen of Canada, wrote a public letter to professors, students and graduates of CEU to inform them that the Orbán government intends to draft legislation that directly threatens the future of this Budapest-based, English-language institution. Mr. Ignatieff emphasized: “The claim that we do not have program accreditation is entirely false. The claim […]
