BUDAPEST, Hungary — Hungary’s president on Monday signed amendments to the country’s higher education law that could force a Budapest university founded by billionaire American philanthropist George Soros to close or move.
Central European University has vowed to challenge the legislation and to remain in Budapest despite invitations to possibly relocate from cities in Lithuania and Poland.
President Janos Ader said in a statement that the bill setting new conditions for foreign universities in Hungary was in line with the Constitution and did not infringe upon academic freedoms.
However, Ader acknowledged that the fast-track approval of the law and some of the new conditions “provoked antipathy in many people.”
About 70,000 people rallied in support of CEU on Sunday, calling on Ader to refrain from signing the legislation approved last Tuesday. It was the third rally in eight days in support of the university, which enrolls over 1,400 students from 108 countries.
Ader called on the government to “immediately” begin talks with affected institutions to secure compliance with the new rules.
One new stipulation demands bilateral agreements with the home countries of universities from outside the European Union within six months, while another would require schools to establish campuses in their home countries by the end of the year.
