“Only one participant’s right to be heard has been restricted in the international dispute that has erupted with regard to the amendment to the Act on Higher Education, and it is that of the Hungarian Government”, Government Spokesperson Zoltán Kovács said at a debate held by the 21st Century Institute at Budapest’s House of Terror Museum on Thursday afternoon.
“We have experienced similar in 2010-2011, and with regard to the media act, the Fundamental Law and a host of other measures”, the Government Spokesperson said, stressing that the aim of the measure is to ensure that all universities operating in Hungary do so under the same conditions.
Mr. Kovács highlighted that the new legislation is not particularly strict given the fact that this institution could not operate at all in certain German states. “People must understand that in the world the making of decisions continues to operate within a state framework”, he said.
With relation to the requirement of an inter-governmental agreement concerning the operation of the institution, Mr. Kovács declared that “if such huge support has been successfully gained to fend off a non-existent threat, then I am absolutely sure the CEU can muster the same political support in the interests of protecting an existing entity”.
The Ministry of Human Capacities’ Deputy State Secretary for Higher Education and Science Policy Zoltán Maruzsa spoke about the fact that it is not easy to establish a university in any state, but “the fact that this is tied to certain conditions has nothing to do with academic freedom”.
“The infringement proceedings launched by the European Commission in the case will be a ‘very good and objective measure’ of whether the amendment of the Act was indeed lawful”, he said.
Director-General of the 21st Century Institute and the House of Terror Museum, historian Mária Schmidt compared conformance with the new regulatory framework to the fact that the university has “launched an international campaign of lies” in the interests of keeping its privileges.
If “the CEU were to now pause its series of political attacks a little” and try to conform to the “not particularly difficult” conditions, “it would be a lot easier to prepare for the new academic year”, she added.
Ms. Schmidt called the events insulting, explaining that she is proud to be the citizen of a free and democratic country, and noting that well-intentioned negotiations should have taken place instead of lobbying to achieve the infringement proceedings.
According to the Deputy Rector of the Central European University, Zsolt Enyedi, however, it is precisely direct dialogue on the issue that has not been possible in recent weeks, adding that in his opinion the amendment of the act means that politicians will be deciding the fate of the university.
According to Mr. Enyedi, it is the Hungarian State that has brought about the complicated legal situation: the American university in Bulgaria, for instance, can issue diplomas from both countries and there are more than thirty American universities operating in other countries, meaning “it is in fact an absolutely recognised model”.
“This is not a virtual university and you didn’t attend a virtual university either”, Mr. Enyedi said turning to Zoltán Kovács, adding that without support from within Hungary and internationally “we would have been swept aside long ago”.
During the debate, the institution’s other Deputy Rector, Éva Fodor highlighted the fact that the legislative amendment does not concentrate on the “minor problems” uncovered during the Education Authority’s review, and what the European Union and several EU officials are objecting to “is far from being a technical issue”.
In reply to a question, Ms. Fodor said no external interference had occurred with regard to what the university can teach, but independence from the state is part of academic freedom and institutional autonomy, for which people have been struggling to achieve since the Middle Ages.