One of the best universities in Eastern Europe is under threat of closure

One of the leading universities in Eastern Europe, Central European University (CEU), located in Budapest, is under threat of closure. The Hungarian parliament passed a bill limiting the activities of all foreign universities in the country (this is the status CEU has).

Central European University was opened in 1991 with the financial support of billionaire George Soros, known for his support of liberal reforms. The university offers master's and postgraduate programs in the humanities and social sciences, business and law, but has achieved particular success in the field of political science, consistently being included in the list of the 50 best universities in the world according to QS and occupying a leading position in Eastern Europe. Today, more than 1,500 students from 100 countries study at CEU, and most of them receive scholarships that fully or partially cover the cost of study and living. The university is very popular among applicants from Russia and the CIS countries, also due to its generous financial policy.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is known for his right-wing politics and antipathy towards George Soros - including the adoption of the bill. “No one in Hungary should put himself above the law, not even a billionaire,” he told The New York Times, adding that he considered the Central European University “fake”. It is worth noting that Orban himself studied for a year at Oxford University thanks to the Soros Foundation scholarship. Now Zoltan Balogh, the minister of education in the Orban government, says that it is necessary to use all available legal methods to stop "spy groups masquerading as representatives of civil society, including those funded by George Soros."

In order to continue its activities, CEU must achieve the conclusion of a special agreement between the governments of the United States and Hungary, as well as organize a campus in the United States. Despite the fact that the university is registered on American territory, the entire educational process takes place in Budapest. Doing allthese requirements can be extremely costly, so the future of the university is still in question.However, CEU President Michael Ignatiev, the former leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, said that the university will continue to exist in any case and, according to the current plan, will keep the campus on the territory of Hungary.

Many academics, including 15 Nobel laureates, have pledged their support for the university. Thousands of people took part in a demonstration held in Budapest in support of the university. Recall that this incident is not the first time that universities are facing external pressure: for example, in March this year, the European University at St. Petersburg lost its license;and after an attempted coup in Turkey in the summer of 2016, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan closed 15 universities.