Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó signed an agreement on the continued operation in Budapest of McDaniel College in Annapolis, in the United States, on Friday.
According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, this proves that “those who want to come to an agreement with the Hungarian Government, can”, and the higher education legislation does not set any conditions vis-à-vis universities based abroad that cannot be met.
Mr Szijjártó told the Hungarian news agency MTI: pursuant to the higher education legislation, the continued operation in Hungary of universities based in countries outside the European Union is tied to the conclusion of inter-state agreements.
The first agreement was signed today which concerns the continued operation of the Hungarian institution of a university from outside the EU: the agreement on the continued operation of the Budapest school of McDaniel College concluded with Maryland State, he said.
The Foreign Minister reiterated: the McDaniel College was established in 1867, and has had a campus in the city of Westminster in Maryland for 150 years. The institution is consequently a university with long-standing operations and major traditions in the United States, he pointed out.
As he said, the parties laid down in the agreement that the university will issue degrees to its students in Budapest – for whom it provides four-year undergraduate training in English – within the framework of its US accreditation. The internal procedures necessary for the entry into force of the agreement under the Hungarian legal system will be carried out by 15 November, he added.
Mr Szijjártó stressed: the agreement signed today is proof of the fact that the conditions prescribed in the higher education legislation “are completely normal and can be met”. The agreement is further proof of the fact that “if someone seeks to come to an agreement, rather than creating political hoo-ha, they can reach an agreement with the Hungarian Government very swiftly with respect to their continued operations”, he said.
He took the view that the educational institutions operating in Hungary must comply with the laws, and the fact that a US university with traditions going back 150 years “can meet the conditions without any trouble” indicates that “every serious institution is able to meet those conditions if they want to”.
The agreement also testifies to the fact that the higher education legislation does not in any way jeopardise the freedom of higher education as there is an American university – operating in Hungary for many long years – which may continue its operations by virtue of the agreement without any problems, he explained.
The Minister remarked: the McDaniel College has three thousand students in the United States, and some one hundred in Hungary.
Mr Szijjártó highlighted: he met with the Maryland State head of Department of Education, the head of the International Division and the deputy head of international business. Maryland State has the 15th highest economic output in the United States, has extremely advanced production technologies, its research and development sector is particularly sophisticated, and pro rata it has the highest number of researchers and engineers. There are 60 universities operating in the State, and a number of federal institutions have their headquarters there, he said.
The Minister pointed out: business relations between Hungary and Maryland are significant, Maryland is our sixth most important export partner in the United States, and our trade turnover is in excess of USD 250 million. The reason for this being that there is one of the largest US ports in the City of Baltimore which receives automotive industry imports, and consequently, the bulk of Hungarian automotive industry exports bound for the United States enter the US via Maryland, he explained.