The Hungarian government has denounced as unacceptable a decision by the European Commission to stop funding universities considered too dependent on the rulers in Budapest.
The universities in question will no longer be eligible for money from the Erasmus+ exchange programme and the Horizon Europe research programme.
"What the European Commission is doing is unacceptable, especially since we adopted the necessary measures against conflicts of interest on the basis of a joint agreement,” Gergely Gulyas, head of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s cabinet, told the press.
“We had been ready to adopt even stricter rules,” he added.
Gulyas said he hoped a solution could be found by mid-March, otherwise Hungary would lay the issue before the European Court of Justice.
Budapest to finance students' participation in European exchange programme
In the meantime, the Hungarian government plans to finance Hungarian students’ participation in Erasmus+, which costs €12.5 million.
The blocking of the funds follows a decision by European Union member States to suspend €6.3 billion in subsidies for Hungary pending anti-corruption reforms.
The Nepszava newspaper revealed this week that the decision could have repercussions for 20 or so universities where academic freedom is no longer guaranteed. They would no longer be eligible for Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe funding in 2024.
The European Commission is concerned about “the involvement of senior political figures” in the foundations under which many universities and colleges have been brought since April 2021.
Academics blame Orban's government
Several government members sit indefinitely on their governing boards, a model which, Orban says, should modernise education and strengthen cooperation with the private sector.
However, his opponents see it as another attempt to redirect Hungarian society towards patriotic and religious values.
Professor Janos Fazekas of ELTE University in Budapest labelled the end of subsidies “an atomic bomb on higher education.”
The Hungarian Network of Universities (OH), an organisation representing academics, also warned of the serious consequences for students, teachers, researchers and other employees of educational institutions.
“The responsibility for this disaster does not lie with the EU, but only with the Hungarian government,” OH said.
