EUA condemns ‘intimidation’ of academics via blacklist

The European University Association (EUA) has issued a statement strongly condemning the “recent intimidation of academics” in the Hungarian media.

The statement is a response to the publication in a pro-government magazine on 12 April of a list of more than 200 people thought likely to be possible members of a group of “mercenaries” allegedly funded by George Soros to overthrow the government.

Soros, the American-Hungarian financier and philanthropist, founded EUA member university, the Central European University (CEU) in Budapest, Hungary. The list, published by Figyelo, a business magazine owned by Maria Schmidt, a historian and supporter of right-wing populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, includes current and former CEU staff members, as well as employees of NGOs that are financially supported by Soros.

Lesley Wilson, EUA secretary general, said: “This is a direct attack on academic freedom, a fundamental principle of higher education that we as Europeans must share and protect.

“We cannot allow university staff to teach and conduct research in an atmosphere of intimidation and oppression from political groups or governments. This is simply unacceptable.”

CEU President and Rector Michael Ignatieff said: “The publication of such a list, in the context of the recent election campaign, is contemptible. This is a flagrant attempt at intimidation that is dangerous for academic freedom and therefore for all of Hungarian academic life.”

Orbán won the parliamentary elections on 8 April with a two-thirds majority after a controversial campaign that demonised immigrants. In a campaign speech he pledged that after the election “moral, political and legal amends” would be sought against rivals, the Washington Post reported.

In the run-up to the election he said the government knew the names of 2,000 members of the “Soros mercenary army” which was being “paid to work toward bringing down the government”, according to the Washington Post.

Next month, the re-elected government is expected to adopt the so-called ‘Stop Soros’ legislation package, which will heavily impact NGOs receiving foreign funding.

Series of attacks on CEU

This intimidation is the latest in a series of attacks on CEU over the past year. Most prominently, in April 2017, the Hungarian government amended higher education legislation in a way that would exclusively impact CEU in an attempt to force its closure.

According to the EUA, this was the first time that a government of a European Union country had sought to shut down a university – an act that was widely condemned, including by the EUA.

CEU has since worked to comply with the additional regulations set out in the legislation, which require a university issuing foreign degrees in Hungary to establish educational activities in the institution’s country of origin.

While CEU has done this at Bard College, New York state, it remains in limbo as the Hungarian government has yet to sign off on the new operating licence.

As reported by University World News, Ignatieff, delivering a keynote speech on academic freedom at the Centre for Global Higher Education’s 2018 annual conference in London earlier this month, said the new law introduced in Hungary last year stipulated that institutions had to be established via an agreement between Hungary and the state where the university originates, “which out of the blue required a bilateral agreement with the government”.

He said CEU, which was founded by Soros after the collapse of communism in Europe, has signed an agreement with the City of Vienna in Austria to open a new secondary campus there from 2019, in addition to its main campus in Budapest and its site in the United States at Bard College in New York state.

In a statement published by CEU, he said the university is determined to remain in Budapest despite the attempts at intimidation.

However, at the Centre for Global Higher Education’s conference he also noted that with Orbán winning a “thumping majority” in parliamentary elections, he now holds all the cards. “I am not able to tell you whether he will or will not sign the agreement that will allow us to stay in Budapest. If we can’t remain in Budapest, I will have to move an entire university across a European frontier to a European state,” Ignatieff said.

In its statement last week, EUA – which represents more than 800 universities in 47 European countries and 33 national rectors’ conferences – called upon the Hungarian government and the press that supports it to refrain from political interference in university matters, to respect institutional autonomy and to establish a dialogue with the sector that is based on mutual trust and the rule of law.

Specifically, it called on Hungarian President Janos Ader to “fulfil his duty as the leader of an EU member state to protect academic freedom as a shared European value”.

EUA said freedom from political intervention and pressure is a condition sine qua non in enabling universities to fulfil their very important role in society. “EUA will continue to monitor the events in Hungary and to stand by its member, CEU,” EUA said.