National Post (National Edition)
Ignatieff battles Hungary’s increasingly autocratic PM
When Michael Ignatieff took the job as president and rector of Hungary’s Central European University last year, a press release at the time hinted that he would be facing “challenging times.”
And indeed, a mere 11 months later, the former Canadian Liberal leader is now leading a life or death struggle for the university against the increasingly autocratic rule of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
“This is going to be a long fight and a difficult one … but we simply cannot accept this legislation and we will resist it,” said Ignatieff in a video message to supporters earlier this month.
On Tuesday, the Hungarian parliament passed legislation that would effectively force CEU to close its doors.
Founded in 1991 by Hungarianborn billionaire George Soros, the university (accredited in both Hungary and the United States) was intended to help shepherd a formerly communist Hungary towards free institutions and liberal democracy.
Of course, this stands in noted opposition to Orban’s stated goal to turn Hungary into an “illiberal state” on the model of Turkey or Russia.
The Hungarian government also seems to have a particular dislike of all things Soros, and have referred to CEU as the “Soros university.”
In the early days of postcommunist Hungary, Orban himself received a Soros-funded scholarship in 1989 to study at Oxford University. Orban spokesman Zoltan Kovacs, one of the most visible defenders of the new law, similarly has a resume that features Soros scholarships and a CEU doctorate.
Nevertheless, the ruling Fidesz party vowed earlier this year to “sweep” out any organizations that received funding from the billionaire.
“The following year will be about the squeezing out of Soros and the powers that symbolize him,” Orban was quoted as telling Hungarian media in December.
The new Hungarian law has sparked public protests in Budapest, as well as official condemnation from Germany, the European Union and the U.S. State Department, which defended CEU as a centre of “independent, critical thinking.”
In an April 5 statement, European Commission representative Carlos Moedas said the Hungarian law “may be in direct opposition to the freedom of scientific research, and our common values of openness.”
Hungarian authorities, meanwhile, have accused opponents of being the victim of “lies.”
When a spokesperson for German Chancellor Angela Merkel denounced the Hungarian education bill on Wedneday, Kovacs publicly expressed “regret that George Soros’s lies have also proved capable of deceiving the German government.”
The new law forces any foreign-registered university in Hungary to also have a branch in their home country.
The New York-registered CEU, notably, is the only Hungarian institution that would be in violation of the measure when it goes into force on January 1, 2018.
“As we see it, this is legislation targeted at one institution and one institution only,” wrote Ignatieff in a letter to supporters in late March.
Ignatieff said in a Tuesday press conference that they intend to petition Hungarian president Janos Ader to veto the measure, which CEU maintains is in violation of the country’s constitution.
Meanwhile, Ignatieff has been busy gathering support from fellow universities in what he has called a fight for the “freedom of academic institutions across Europe.”
Earlier this week, the rector was in Washington, D.C., to gather support from Senators, members of Congress and the U.S. State Department, who he suspected would express “incredulity” at the details of the new law.