Commentary
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A Nobel Peace Prize For Trump – COMMENTARY
29 April 2025
Years after squeezing the Central European University out of the country, Hungarian higher education is back in the international news due to fresh allegations of systemic corruption, and this time students could lose the Erasmus and Horizon programmes.
Unfortunately, most Hungarian universities are to be cut off from Erasmus and Horizon Europe programmes due to rule of law violations not being addressed adequately during the massive privatization drive, which resulted in concerns about public procurement and corruption.
The recent changes in Hungarian higher education suggest that resolving the problems does not seem to be easy or fast, or whether a satisfactory solution can be brought about by 15 February. The current situation threatens an expulsion from the Horizon Europe programme and that could push Hungary’s top researchers to leave the country.
For many, the authoritarian nature of the Orbán regime became clear when it effectively squeezed out the Central European University (CEU). Even the European Peoples’ Party (EPP)’s by-then chair, Manfred Weber, came to visit the institution that, according to international statistics, was by far the best in Hungary.