There is fresh hope that the Central European University (CEU) may stay in Budapest, after the minister president of Bavaria, Markus Söder, started a dialogue with Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán, in order to establish three professorships in partnership with the Technical University of Munich (TUM), jointly funded by car maker BMW and the Bavarian government.
“A door has opened,” said CEU Rector Michael Ignatieff declared. “Whether it leads to a solution depends on whether the Hungarian government will ratify an international agreement guaranteeing the freedom of CEU to operate in Budapest as a US degree granting institution.”
At the moment, CEU is no longer able to offer US accredited degrees in Hungary, following a law adopted in 2017 which requires foreign universities to operate in their home countries, forcing CEU to move the majority of its courses to Vienna.
Mr Söder is now calling for a legal guarantee by the Hungarian government that the CEU can continue to award US and European diplomas in Budapest.
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