Budapest's Central European University (CEU), which has fought for 20 months to secure its continued presence in the Hungarian capital, is being pushed out of the country in an “arbitrary eviction” that violates academic freedom. CEU confirmed plans to open a new campus in Austria.
CEU’s legal status has been in limbo for more than a year since changes were made to a higher education law, done, as critics of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government say, to deliberately target CEU. This decision came in the face of Orban’s crackdown on academic freedom and autonomy, including a ban on gender studies programs, the suspension of research related to migration and diaspora studies, and harsh punitive tax measures.
On December 3, 2018, Michael Ignatieff, the president of CEU, called the move unprecedented, saying it was the first time a US institution had been driven out by a NATO ally. “We fought a battle of principle to defend academic freedom. We thought democracy was secure in Europe and now we’re looking at democratic backsliding of a serious kind in Hungary,” Ignatieff said at a news conference. “The challenge for us is to maintain our academic quality while we recover from this political attack. We’re part of a bigger story, which is the process of slow consolidation of single-party rule in this country, and that should worry us.”
Central European University is accredited in Hungary and the United States. It is acknowledged as one of the leading institutions in the region, with a faculty made up of leading scholars and politicians from around the world.
Endangered Scholars Worldwide deplores and condemns the outrageous and unforgivable act of the Hungarian government to drive out the country's leading university. We join other academic, intellectual, and political leaders in Europe, the US, and other regions who object to this assault on the CEU. We believe that the eviction of this reputable university is a flagrant and unjust violation of its freedom, autonomy, security, and safety, as well as that of its more than 2,200 faculty members, students, and staff.
We call upon all European governments, the US Department of State, international organizations, university presidents, academic and professional associations, student groups, and individuals devoted to the promotion and defense of human rights to protest and condemn the Hungarian government’s actions toward CEU. We must create a stable legal environment in which independent thought and inquiry can flourish.
ESW urges the officials of the Hungarian government to respect, guarantee, and implement the provisions and principles of autonomy of higher education as specified in the international conventions and treaties to which Hungary has long been a signatory.
We stand in solidarity with the students and faculty of the Central European University.
Please send appeals to the following:
Viktor Orbán
Prime Minister 1357 Budapest, Pf. 6.
Hungary E-mail: miniszterelnok@me.gov.hu
Zoltán KOVÁCS
International Spokesperson
Tel: +36 1 896 1905
Fax: +36 1 795 0410
Email: intcomm@mk.gov.hu
István Mikola
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
1027 Budapest, Bem rakpart 47.
Hungary
Phone: +36 1 458 1000
Fax: +36 1 212 5918
Michael R. Pompeo
United States Secretary of State
Office of Foreign Missions
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520 USA
Email: OFMInfo@state.gov
Nikki Haley
U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations
U.S. Permanent Mission to the United Nations
799 United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017 USA
David B. Cornstein
Ambassador of the United States to Hungary
Embassy of the United States
Szabadság tér 12, 1054
Budapest, Hungary
Fax: +36 1 475 4400
Kishore Singh
United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Email: sreducation@ohchr.org
David Kaye
United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and
protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
Fax: +41 22 917 9006
Email: freedex@ohchr.org
Federica Mogherini
High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security
Policy
European Commission
Rue de la Loi / Wetstraat 200
1049 Brussels
Belgium
Thorbjørn Jagland
Secretary General of the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
Avenue de l'Europe
F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex
France
Fax: + 33 3 88 41 27 99
Philippe Boillat
Directorate General Human Rights and Rule of Law
Council of Europe
Avenue de l'Europe
F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex
France
Fax: + 33 3 88 41 27 99