IGNATIEFF IN UNIVERSITY BATTLE.
Former Liberal leader resisting new legislation
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 Hungarian-born billionaire George Soros, the university (accredited in both Hungary and the United States) was intended to help shepherd a formerly communist Hungary toward 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 has referred to CEU as the “Soros university.”
In the early days of postcommunist Hungary, Orban himself received a Sorosfunded 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 Wednesday, 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 Jan. 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 was drawn to the CEU job in part because his wife, Zsuzsanna Zsohar, was born in Hungary. However, she was reportedly reluctant to return to the country having left it in 1970, when it was still a socialist state under the heel of the Soviet Union.
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.
“We are going to behave as if Hungary is a liberal democratic state with constitutional review,” said Ignatieff on Tuesday.
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.
Of particular interest to U.S. authorities is that the Hungarian law will require CEU to obtain permission from President Donald Trump and the U.S. federal government. This would potentially be in violation of the U.S. Constitution, which denotes education as a statelevel responsibility.
“There may not be much love lost between the Trump administration and universities, but it is difficult to see how an avowedly ‘America First’ administration can ignore such a direct assault on an American institution,” wrote Ignatieff in a Sunday op-ed for the New York Times.
THIS IS LEGISLATION TARGETED AT ONE INSTITUTION AND ONE INSTITUTION ONLY.